As personal details are exchanged through such social networks, the culprits have ready access to sensitive information to carry out various illegal activities through these social networking systems.
Policing
Chief Engineer Rohana Palliyaguruge of Sri Lanka ComputerEmergency Research Technology (SLCERT) said that his association is affiliated to the international computer alert union -- which polices social network sites and it is a hundred percent government owned organisation. This organization was set up in 2006 and was directly under the purview of the presidential secretariat. According to Palliyaguruge, SLCERT has continued to receive a spate of complaints in recent times regarding crimes committed through Facebook. The Facebook craze which has continued to spread like wildfire has now caught the imagination of youth in this country. Facebook is now a status symbol. However He stated that during the past six months alone around 400 to 450 complaints had been received by them. Majority of these complaints had been related to crimes or vice carried out via Facebook. “There are reports that illegal accounts have been created and at the same time some were resorting to demanding ransom money to release secret numbers which stolen from certain Facebook accounts,” observed Palliyaguruge. Recently there was a Facebook account that was released to the internet where details of a girl studying at a leading international school had been carried -- those perusing theese details were asked to deposit a certain amount of money to enjoy one night stands with the girl concerned. A complaint to this effect was lodged by the mother of the girl who was furious that such a situation had arisen and she swore that her daughter was an innocent girl whose reputation was now at stake. Weligama police commenced an inquiry and was able to nab the person who had allegedly opened the account. Inquiries later revealed that this youth was also studying at the same school the girl attended.Relationship
The youth and the girl had been involved in a relationship and after having learned of his partner going out with another guy, the youth had opened a Facebook page using her account. This is only one such incident. There are thousands of such incidents that take place in this country, thanks to these social networking sites! In another incident, a young mother who had come to know of a youth residing in Wattala through Facebook had conspired with her Facebook ‘paramour’ to murder her millionaire spouse. “Facebook has now become a global epidemic. Youth easily fall victim and are deceived through such networks. It has also been found that some Facebook accounts give graphic details of the whereabouts of people. In a recent search it has been found Facebook account holders even give out private data, thus enabling thieves to ransack thse homes and lay their hands on their jewellery. Those who study such information then resort to pillage and plunder of goods from unsuspecting persons. Facebook has now turned out to be valuable to those who commit robbery. Thankfully, since the lower strata of our society has no access to Facebook it has escaped the eye of common thieves. “But, the outlook is not bright and we need to be vigilant as nobody could predict what the future will hold,” he asserted. According to internet information, the Facebook founder’s account had also been hacked into by certain people. But, Palliyaguruge opined that SLCERT will continue to monitor activities of Facebook account holders ‘24/7.’ He further stressed that any complaints in this regard can be forwarded through telephone number 011-2691692 or through the web slcert@slcert,gov.lk. He urged those who constantly use Facebook to refrain from releasing unnecessary details and to confine their dealings to a limited group. It has also been found that many people browse the internet and get to Facebook to start relationships and affairs. Therefore a plethora of playboys and philanderers are known to access Facebook at any given time. Palliyaguruge maintained that in Sri Lanka most Facebook accounts having women’s names were in fact those belonging to men. He called for alertness on the part of women in general due to this fact.SMS scam
SLCERT has informed the public of a SMS scam that states ‘a lottery win is entitled to reciever’ which had been circulated among many mobile phone users of late. They have warned the public not to fall prey to this alleged scam carried by a certain group and that the entire exercise is illegal and unauthorized. According to Rohana Palliyaguruge most of the complaints received by them had stated that this SMS had originated from India. According to this SMS the lottery win entitles a person to a sum of over a million rupees. Anumber and a website had been given to the person who had allegedly won it, to contact the operators of the scam. Upon contacting however, the winner is requested to submit his personal details including his current or saving account numbers and the scammers had requested the winner to deposit an initial amount of 100 US dollars as an initial payment to the operators. For the winning prize of millions 100 dollars is a small amount. But, there are still suckers who fall into such obvious traps even in this country.
By Gayan Kumara Weerasingha - Lakbima News
