Pradeep Singh

Bhubaneswar: Cases of cyber crime in Odisha saw a big jump of 76 per cent in 2019 as compared to the previous year. It is no wonder that cyber criminals are running riot with opening fake Facebook accounts in the name of Police Commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi and DIG (Investigation), Anup Sahoo to extort money from people.

Speaking on the matter, former Odisha DGP, Sanjeev Marik opined that cyber criminals are using names of such police personnel or persons in higher posts as it's easy to extort money or dupe people.

"They (cyber criminals) have created the accounts in the name of Sarangi and Sahoo as they are in such higher posts in the police department. Their only intention is to dupe people. Police cases should be registered against them as there is a provision of two to seven years of jail term for such crimes," said Marik.

This apart fake accounts are also being opened in the names of politicians and celebrities.

Cyber experts warned that such matters should never be taken lightly. They say people should change their Facebook account password at regular intervals and should not use simple passwords like their mobile number.

"If anyone is asking for money online, one should always contact the person in the name of whom he/she is asking for the amount. Besides, repeated changing of password and enabling two-factor authentication can help avoid hacking," said Prashant Sahoo, cyber expert.

(Edited By Bikram Keshari Jena)

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