Defamation, fraud cases on social media recorded 100% rise in 2021 in Pune city: Cyber Police – ET Government

Defamation, fraud cases on social media recorded 100% rise in 2021 in Pune city: Cyber Police – ET Government


Cases of defamation and fraud on social media have recorded a little over 100 percent increase from 2,174 in 2020 to 4,357 in 2021. Online business frauds and mobile phone offences (vulgar messages, money transfer hacks, extortion and threats), too, have seen a 45 percent and 29 percent rise respectively in 2021 compared to the year before, while online banking and cheating frauds, hacking, data thefts and fake websites, among other cybercrimes, saw a marginal rise, data released by the Pune cyber police revealed.

“A total of 3,004 of the 4,357 crimes related to social media, involved popular networking and video-sharing platforms such as Facebook/Instagram and another 1,323 cases involved other sites,” a cyber police officer said. Creating fake profiles, posting defamatory matter, vulgar comments, identity thefts, friendship frauds, sextortion (nude video call & extortion), hacking FB profiles and posting vulgar messages, fake mail ID, anti-religion comments are some of the most common crimes on social media, he added.

Frauds related to cryptocurrencies, still not a legal tender in India, jumped from a mere four in 2020 to 71 cases in 2021. “Young people are investing heavily in cryptocurrencies expecting handsome returns on investment in quick time. People do not check the legal aspects and get cheated,” lawyer Ameya Dange, who specialises in cases of virtual/digital currencies, said.

Cyber police data show a 27 percent rise in cybercrimes in Pune city in 2021 compared to 2020. “In a way, this is better compared to the 94 percent increase in cybercrimes recorded in 2020 compared to 2019,” the police officer said.

“The mushrooming of fraudulent websites in the times of pandemic has contributed to the rise in cybercrimes to a great extent,” independent cybercrime investigator Sandeep Gadiya said.

Cyber law expert Gaurav Jachak said crimes on social media sites can be attributed to an extent to loneliness of people during the pandemic restrictions. “People looking for some company, created their profiles on social sites just to chat or become friends with others. Fraudsters took advantage of the situation by cheating such persons on the pretext of seeking help to overcome health and other issues or by resorting to sextortion,” he said.

Deputy commissioner of police (Cyber) Bhagyashri Navatake told TOI, “People are spending more time on the internet owing to work from home. They are downloading different apps, visiting various sites and ending up divulging sensitive information on unsecured sites, much to the delight of fraudsters. People are devoting their free time on social networking sites, uploading objectionable contents or reactions that are not in good taste. This leads to cases.”





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