A teenager picked up the habit of playing online games during the Covid pandemic while he attended online sessions conducted by his school.
His family was strict enough not to buy him a mobile phone then his father who is a government employee had to give him his phone for online studies. This is when the teenager got addicted to online games.
When he was playing an online game on his father’s mobile, a link popped up on his phone. The teenager clicked on the link. An hour later, Rs 1.36 lakh were siphoned off from his father’s bank account.
The state cyber cell carried out a social media drive to create awareness among the general public about their vulnerability while playing online games. The campaign carried out by the state cyber cell mentioned that the cyber-criminal poses as a fellow gamer while the virtual game is being played.
A senior cyber-crime official said, “Cyber criminals lure their opponents, who are mostly teenagers, to share personal details of their parents. They even send a link on the device which is being used for gaming. In both the cases, personal details are obtained which are then used to siphon money from bank accounts.”
The official said such cases have been on the rise after the Covid pandemic broke out. “This is the time when parents have to give their children a device for online studies. As many students picked up the habit of playing online games during this period, cyber thugs targeted their parents through them,”
SP of state cyber cell Saurabh Tolambiya said they are creating awareness among the general public by conducting a social media drive. “Children fall easy prey to cyberattacks as they are the ones who usually play online games,”.