15 minutes agoAuthor: Sandeep Singh
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In Mohali, Punjab, cyber criminals created a fake business group on Telegram and defrauded a young man of more than Rs 2.45 lakh. The victim has complained about this to the cyber police station.
The young man told that he had received a message on Telegram, through which he was added to a business group. 78 people were already connected to that group. Claims of earning lakhs of rupees were made in this group. The group was promising to earn easy money sitting at home through small tasks.
The young man first got the task that he had to book some rooms in a hotel. When he completed the task, he also got a payment of Rs 1,017. This was an income earned sitting at home without doing much. Obviously, this increased both his hope and greed.
After this, he was pressurized to deposit more money in his bank account, so that he could complete further tasks and a large amount could be transferred to his account. As soon as he transferred money to his account several times, Rs 2 lakh, 45 thousand, 302 went missing from his account.
It is possible that the scammers may have already hacked the young man’s account or mobile, about which the young man had no knowledge. The greed to earn a few rupees overpowered him and he even lost his hard-earned money.
For some time now, cyber criminals have been using messaging apps like Telegram, WhatsApp to trap people. Scammers give tempting offers to earn quick money on these messaging apps, due to which most of the people fall into their trap.
So let’s go, needed news I will talk about how to identify this scam happening through Telegram? You will also learn that-
- How do scammers make people their victims through Telegram?
- What precautions should be taken to avoid such scams?
Expert: Pawan Duggal, Cyber Security and AI Expert, New Delhi
Question- Why do scammers use Telegram for fraud?
answer- Telegram is a very popular messaging app, which has more than 10 crore active users in India. There are many reasons for carrying out scam incidents through Telegram. Such as-
- In this, bigger files can be shared than WhatsApp. This is the reason why a large section of Telegram users are students, who use it to share PDFs or videos related to exam preparation. It is easy for scammers to deceive students with the promise of jobs.
- In this, you can login to the app even without using the phone number. This makes it difficult to trace the identity of the user.
- Telegram is an end-to-end encrypted messaging app, in which no third person can monitor your data. Therefore, it is easy for scammers to contact users directly on their numbers.
- Options like group chat, file sharing make the work of scammers easier. With this, they can send their fake message to hundreds of people in one click.
Question- How do scammers carry out fraud incidents through Telegram?
answer- Scammers adopt many methods to defraud people through Telegram. This includes things like phishing messages, lure of job, investment or lottery.
The graphic below shows some of the methods scammers commonly use.
Cheating by creating phishing link
Scammers ask people to click on phishing links. These links often take users to fake websites that look similar to the real thing. Login details or personal information are asked on these. You should not click on any such link.
cheating on the pretext of job
Most cases of scams are reported on Telegram by promising jobs. Scammers often post fake jobs for work from home or to earn more money in a few hours. They ask you to connect with a ‘Hiring Manager’ on Telegram. When you contact them they ask you to make some payment in the name of training. This is a trap of scammers. One should never get trapped in this.
Question- How can one identify a fake Telegram account or profile?
answer- Cyber security and AI expert Pawan Duggal says that it is very easy to identify a fake Telegram account or profile. For this it is important to check some things. Understand it with the pointers below-
- Fake accounts often have vague profile photos and bios.
- Unusual usernames can also be a sign of a fake Telegram account.
- By using the names of big companies, people are lured with the promise of jobs.
- Often, there are some scammers in fake groups and channels who talk about getting a job.
Apart from this, there are some other signs by which fake accounts can be identified. See this in the graphic below-
Question- What to do if you become a victim of Telegram scam?
answer- Telegram has an official bot channel named ‘No to Scam’. If you become a victim of any kind of scam on Telegram, you can report it.
For this, login to your Telegram account. After this go to the chat section and look for the ‘@notoscam’ bot. The name of this bot is report impersonation and it has a verified checkmark.
Tag the scammers’ account or channel in the chat window. Then briefly explain why you are reporting them. After this the Telegram team will assist you.
Apart from this, if you are cheated of money, contact the nearest cyber crime police station or helpline number 1930.
Also read these news related to cyber scam
1. Necessary news- 56 lakhs cheated in the name of investment: Do not be tempted to earn quick money and get high returns.
A shopkeeper in Puttur in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka became a victim of fraud of Rs 56.7 lakh in the greed of higher returns. The scammers had given the shopkeeper some tasks to complete on YouTube. Read the full news…
2. Important news- Supriya Sule’s WhatsApp account hacked: Cyber experts are telling how to identify hacking.
Getting WhatsApp hacked is a matter of concern for anyone. This is a violation of our privacy. There is a need to be very alert and careful regarding this. Read the full news…
