FIA warns public against cybercriminals amid coronavirus outbreak

• The agency warned that criminals forged their identity to lure youngsters/ children into their trap by making friends with them on social media channels.
• The cybercriminals trap children/youngsters into doing objectionable activities which may be filmed and used for pornography against consent, warned FIA.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has warned the public, especially children to be aware of the cybercriminals, in wake of coronavirus outbreak, under which students currently on their holidays are spending much of their time on internet surfing.

The Cyber Crime Wing of FIA, in its advisory, said that it wants the public to be aware of the risks of cybercrime which children and youngsters are prone to while they are on the internet. The agency warned that criminals forged their identity to lure youngsters/ children into their trap by making friends with them on social media channels.

In doing so they trap children/youngsters into doing objectionable activities which may be filmed and used for pornography against consent, warned FIA.

The agency said that such criminals may also convince children and youngsters for sharing their extremely private, often nude, pictures with them which they later use to blackmail them with the threat of sharing the same with their family members or the friends.

In order to protect themselves from these criminals, he FIA advised to never share personal information/ private pics/videos with anyone on social media.

“Never accept “friend request” from any stranger, youngsters should be allowed to use internet only under the supervision and in a shared space,” read the advisory.

The FIA added to never stay silent if one has become victim to cybercrime of any sort including blackmailing, harassment or bullying, and identify and report false/misleading scams online.