A Fake account of DCP west Bengaluru was created using the photo and name of SP Belagavi Sanjiv Patil.
The same modus operandi of asking for money in a private message was followed here as well was followed.
SP Belagavi has tweeted about the same
The police are already looking into the matter and the miscreants will be apprehended soon. People have to be cautious and never end up paying.
How to keep your identity safe on social media
Check your privacy settings
When setting up a social media account, make sure that youโve adjusted the relevant privacy controls so that strangers wonโt be able to view your personal details and posts.
To do this, go to the Settings tab on Facebook. Then click on โPrivacyโ and โWho can see your future posts.โ You can set this to โFriendsโ or โFriends, Except,โ which gives you the option to exclude certain people from reading your posts
Donโt include personal information in your user name or email address
Avoid including details in your user name or email address that could be used by fraudsters to piece together your identity.
Donโt accept invitations to connect from strangers
Donโt connect with strangers as this gives them access to this information, which they could use to commit fraud.
Be careful about what you post
Avoid sharing personal information, like your credit card number or holiday dates (you donโt want criminals to know when you wonโt be at home).
Change your passwords regularly and dont keep the same password across the accounts
What to do if you are a victim of social media identity theft
For Facebook: You can find Facebookโs online instructions for reporting fake pages here.
If you donโt have a Facebook account but someone has created a fake account in your name, you can report the fraudulent account here.
For Twitter: You can report impersonated Twitter accounts here. Here is the link to file your impersonation report. Itโs important to note that you donโt need a Twitter account to report a fake profile.
For LinkedIn:You can also report fake profiles on LinkedIn directly to the social media platform. Hereโs the link.
For Instagram:You can report fake accounts created in the name of your business, organization, yourself, or your child here.
For Snapchat:You can report a safety concern โ including an impersonated profile โ on Snapchat by visiting the companyโssafety reporting page.
For Pinterest:Find a fake Pinterest profile in your name? You can report it directly to the social media platform at this link.
With inputs from us.norton.com