Cybercrime police said fraudsters hack the victim’s email account and send fake emails to their contacts, stating that the victim is in dire need of money.
“After the account is hacked, emails are sent to all contacts of the victim stating the account holder’s family member is in the hospital and he or she urgently needs money. Thinking it’s true, the contacts transfer money to the given account details in the mail,” said Hyderabad additional deputy commissioner of police (cyber crime) Raghu Vir.
According to a police source, the Dark Web has become a marketplace of Gmail data. “Several fraudsters get hold of the information about accounts through Dark Web and use it to blackmail people and siphon off money,” the source added.
In a recent case, a 33-year-old businessman approached the Rachakonda Cyber crime police saying that he received a mail saying his account was hacked and his activities were being followed by the fraudsters. "The hacker claimed he knows what kind of pornography websites the victim was watching and threatened to send details to his family and friends," Rachakonda assistant commissioner of police, cybercrime, S Harinath said. "We asked him to get bank details of the hacker so that we can track him. Hyderabad police too had registered a similar case a month ago. However, the man refused to register a case due to stigma," the official added.
A team of researchers have discovered that ultrasonic sounds picked up by a webcam microphone can be analyzed using machine learning to determine what's being shown on a remote computer screen.
