{"id":2277,"date":"2022-09-05T13:00:16","date_gmt":"2022-09-05T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/?p=2277"},"modified":"2023-06-12T07:51:38","modified_gmt":"2023-06-12T07:51:38","slug":"social-media-crimes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/2022\/09\/05\/social-media-crimes\/","title":{"rendered":"SOCIAL MEDIA CRIMES"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Social media is a place where we share our lives with the world. We often forget that\u00a0there are cyber criminals out there who are waiting for their chance to take advantage of\u00a0us. While spending time on social media sites, we make ourselves easy targets for cyber\u00a0crimes. Cybercriminals can use your profile images to fraudulently open an account in\u00a0your name and connect with your friends and family. They may trick your social media\u00a0connections into sending money, clicking links to malicious websites, or providing\u00a0personal information. Over the years, several movies have depicted how cyber crimes\u00a0happen on social media. For a start, here are a few of them.<\/p>\n

\"\"The movie “The Social Network” (2010)\u00a0revolves around the founding of\u00a0Facebook and how it became so\u00a0popular. In this movie, there is a scene\u00a0where Zuckerberg’s friend gets hacked,\u00a0and his password gets stolen employing\u00a0phishing.<\/p>\n

\"\"In “You’ve Got Mail”, a businessman\u00a0named Joe Fox starts a fake email\u00a0account to get information about his
\ncompetitor’s company. He sends out an\u00a0email to everyone in the company and\u00a0offers them a free lunch from his
\nrestaurant. The email looks like it came\u00a0from the CEO of their company, so\u00a0everyone shows up at Joe’s restaurant
\nfor lunch.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Girl with the dragon tattoo\u201d, Stieg Larsson’s protagonist, Mikael Blomkvist, is a\u00a0victim of cyberstalking. He receives threatening emails from an unknown source and\u00a0gets followed by a mysterious man who knows his every move. The movie explores the\u00a0effects of cyberstalking on its victims. The protagonist is not only physically observed
\nbut also psychologically tormented by his unknown stalker.<\/p>\n

Catfish is a 2010 American documentary film. The film is about a New York artist, Nev\u00a0Schulman, who creates an online persona to pursue his dream girl.\u00a0The movie follows Nev Schulman as he discovers that his girlfriend, Megan, has been\u00a0lying to him and fabricating her entire life on the Internet. Nev sets off on an adventure to\u00a0uncover the truth about her and, in the process, discovers how easy it is for people to\u00a0deceive others on social media. In “The Social Network” movie, Mark Zuckerberg hacks\u00a0into Harvard’s student database and looks at pictures of women on campus to find one\u00a0he wants to date.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Social media has made it easier to commit crimes. Phishing is one of the most common\u00a0social media crimes. It is a type of fraud in which someone sends you an email that looks\u00a0like it is from a company or person you trust, but the email contains malware or a virus\u00a0that can steal your personal information. Phishing is sending an email from an
\nillegitimate source that contains malicious links or attachments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Identity theft is another common social media crime. Identity theft is when someone uses\u00a0another person’s personal information to commit fraud, such as opening credit cards or\u00a0obtaining loans in their name. It occurs when someone steals your personal information\u00a0and uses it without your permission. For example, cybercriminals may use stolen names,\u00a0addresses and phone numbers to get credit cards, jobs and other things in their name.\u00a0Identity theft can cause significant damage to your credit report and take months or\u00a0years to repair. Social media crime is most common in the first few years of using a new\u00a0service when everyone learns how it works. If you see any suspicious activity, report it\u00a0as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

Morphing refers to changing one photo into another by adding or removing parts of the\u00a0image so that it becomes unrecognizable to the original photo’s owner. It is also when\u00a0people digitally alter a picture of themselves to make it look like they are someone else,\u00a0often celebrities. Morphing is done through software or using photos found on the
\nInternet and editing them with digital tools. The Malayalam movie Operation Java is\u00a0based on a real-life cyber crime and narrates a tale of a sari-clad married woman (played\u00a0by Dhanya) whose morphed porn video goes viral on social media until it is finally\u00a0proved that it’s not her.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cyberbullying is a social media crime that is growing in popularity. It ranges from\u00a0posting mean comments on Facebook to sending death threats on Snapchat. The\u00a0problem with cyberbullying is that the bully can hide behind their computer, and they’re\u00a0able to say whatever they want without any consequences. The movie “Caught in a web”
\nis about three women’s lives turning into living nightmares when a bizarre cyberbully\u00a0hacks into their cellphones and computers. With the help of a police officer, they join\u00a0forces to track down the offender and end the harassment.<\/p>\n

The movie “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” deals with this issue, based on a book of\u00a0the same name. When Lara Jean discovers that someone has been secretly sending love\u00a0letters to her older sister Margot, she becomes distraught and angry. Lara goes through\u00a0Margot’s phone and finds out that it is – one of her classmates named Josh, who has\u00a0been bullying her for years. Cyberbullying can sometimes lead to real-world\u00a0consequences like school bullying and suicide. Many states have laws against\u00a0cyberbullying, and there are even specialized social media crime units in some police\u00a0departments<\/p>\n

\"\"Cyberstalking is when someone uses\u00a0social media to harass or threaten some\u00a0person. Cyberstalking is a crime that
\ninvolves harassing and following\u00a0someone online. Cyberstalking is using\u00a0the Internet or other electronic means to
\nstalk, harass, annoy, alarm or intimidate\u00a0a person. Cyberstalking may include\u00a0monitoring the person’s use of social
\nmedia, such as Facebook messages and\u00a0Twitter feeds. Some movies have shown\u00a0cyberstalking in their storyline. In the\u00a0television serial titled Cyberstalker 2012,\u00a0directed by Curtis Crawford, Mischa\u00a0Barton stars as a young artist living in\u00a0seclusion since her parents were\u00a0murdered by her stalker thirteen years\u00a0earlier; her peace is suddenly disturbed\u00a0by his reappearance. Another example is\u00a0The Social Network (2010). In this movie,\u00a0Mark Zuckerberg creates a website\u00a0Facemash, that allows Harvard students to vote on the most attractive female students\u00a0from their yearbook photos.<\/p>\n

Criminals are using social media to commit burglary. Criminals use social media to\u00a0perpetrate and identify burglary targets. It is common to post about your activities, such\u00a0as vacations, dinners, etc. Because of the sensitive information they provide about the\u00a0victim, the criminals often use this information to indulge in break-ins during the\u00a0absence of the inmates. As they get enough time to get into the victim’s home, using the\u00a0information posted on the media sites by the victim is used by criminals to their\u00a0advantage.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Online Job Fraud is another social media crime which is becoming rampant. During\u00a0registration, job seekers’ accounts get compromised when they disclose their bank\u00a0account, credit card, or debit card details on fraudulent job search websites. Fraudsters\u00a0may also act as representatives of a reputable organization and offer employment after
\nperforming phoney interviews. Afterwards, they persuade the job seeker to send money\u00a0for registration, compulsory training, a laptop, and other expenses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cybercrime is a growing problem that criminal networks use to commit fraud and steal\u00a0money from unsuspecting victims. Criminal groups use social media sites as platforms\u00a0for identity theft and other cybercrimes to attract new members with the promise of\u00a0financial gain or notoriety. For example, in 2016, more than half a million fake Facebook\u00a0profiles were created in the United States alone, with most users in New York. These fake\u00a0profiles are for fraudulent purposes, such as selling stolen goods or scamming people\u00a0out of their money. Fraud cases on social media witnessed an increase of 43% in 2018.\u00a0Approximately 44,546 cases were reported under the cyber-crime head in 2019 compared\u00a0to 27,248 cases in 2018. Therefore, National Crime Reporting Bureau observed a rise of\u00a063.5% in cyber-crimes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Using social media platforms to investigate crimes of all kinds is becoming essential for\u00a0the police. Police are using Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook and Twitter to alert the public\u00a0about local crimes. Posting videos and images of crime scenes and arrests and updates\u00a0on ongoing investigations are common occurrences on social media.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The increased use of social media has presented new ways for criminals to exploit\u00a0vulnerabilities in the online community. It is essential to stay vigilant when using social\u00a0media sites, especially when sharing personal information. Be careful about who you\u00a0allow into your network and what you share with them. Be aware of your surroundings\u00a0and avoid making yourself a target by keeping personal information private and secure.\u00a0In addition to personal safety, it is essential to know your rights as a social media user\u00a0and how to report any inappropriate behaviour or content.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Dr. K.Jayanth Murali is an IPS Officer belonging to 1991 batch. He is\u00a0borne on Tamil Nadu cadre. He lives with his family in Chennai, India.\u00a0He is currently serving the Government of Tamil Nadu as Director\u00a0General of Police, Idol Wing CID.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Social media is a place where we share our lives with the world. We often forget that\u00a0there are cyber criminals out there who are waiting for their chance to take advantage of\u00a0us. While spending time on social media sites, we make ourselves easy targets for cyber\u00a0crimes. Cybercriminals can use your profile images to fraudulently open […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2277"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3136,"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2277\/revisions\/3136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jayanthmurali.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}