Bhubaneswar: Cocking a snook at the cyber security of the state, some hackers have targeted a former Director General of Odisha Police to extort money from him. The ex-DGP, who is also a noted columnist, has registered a complaint with Nayapalli police.
While the officials of the police station remained tight-lipped on the incident, sources claimed that email hackers have targeted the ex-top cop by hacking his email. The online hackers who used to send regular spam mails to various mails hack all the details like password when the user accidentally opens the mail.
The accused cyber fraudsters have stolen all the personal details including bank account number of the former DGP by hacking his email. The crooks also hacked the details from his social media account and started ‘blackmailing’ him.
They asked him to pay Rs 1.40 lakh through Bitcoin, a decentralised digital currency, else, they said, they would put all his personal details on public platforms. He initially did not pay any heed to the threatening emails by the hackers. However, when the hackers started repeatedly bothering him through threat mails, former DGP sought the help of the Nayapalli police.
Police has started investigations into the incident after registering a case (191/20) under section 385 of IPC and 66C of the IT Act. As per sources, Nayapali police have sought the help of cyber experts to track the hackers.
Cyber expert Dinesh Mohanty said, “Hackers across the world have turned very active during the lockdown. People should avoid clicking on links mentioned in the mails from unknown senders. Everyone should use different passwords for separate purposes. The passwords should also be created with different signs, characters so that the hackers find it really difficult to crack.”
PNN