Social Media has become an integral part of our lives. It is the new way of communicating, sharing and informing people about the events in our lives. We share our day-to-day activities on social media in the form of self and family photographs, updates on our locations/whereabouts, our views/thoughts on prevalent topics etc. One can understand the entire history of an individual through their social media profile and can even predict future events based on patterns in the past.
This poses a threat to an individual as unwanted access to social media profile can cause loss of information, defamation, identity theft or even worse consequences such as physical/sexual assault, robbery etc. Hence, protection and appropriate use of social media profiles is very important.
Examples of social media frauds:
The attacker becomes friends with the victim on social media. The attacker gains trust by frequent interactions. The attacker later extracts money/harms the victim.
The attacker becomes friend with the victim on social media. Over a period, the attacker gains the victim's affection. The attacker later exploits the victim physically, financially and/or emotionally.
Cyber Stalking is a crime in which the attacker harasses a victim using electronic communication, such as e-mail, instant messaging (IM), messages posted on a website or a discussion group. A cyber stalker relies upon the fact that his/her true identity is not known in the digital world. A cyber stalker targets the victims with threatening/abusive messages and follows them/their activities in the real world.
Cyber Bullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices. Cyber Bullying can occur through SMS, social media, forums or gaming apps where people can view, participate or share content. Cyber Bullying includes sending, posting or sharing negative, harmful, false content about someone else. The intention is to cause embarrassment or humiliation. At times, it can also cross the line into unlawful criminal behaviour.