Honey traps dot social websites
Tricksters and anti-social elements are increasingly using social networking sites to trap the gullible. The latest additions to this side of Facebook, for instance, are groups that offer phone numbers of girls –“many” of them fake.
“Earlier, there was a similar trend in Yahoo. It used to have groups providing phone numbers of prostitutes under the category of escort girls.
This has now been gradually migrating to social networking sites like Facebook too,” said hi-tech cell assistant commissioner N. Vinayakumar.
‘Kerala Hot Mallus’, a group created a few months ago, now has close to 2,000 members. ‘Welcome to the world of hot malayali girls and boys... enjoy urselves’, it says. A tagline says, “Do not feel shy to seek the phone number of any member.”
There are a dozen other groups that offer phone numbers of agents and prostitutes. Intelligence sources said several agents in the state have gone tech-savvy in recent times, as social networking sites provided an easier trade platform.
However, police find it difficult to trap them as they most often operate from cyber cafes and use fake profiles.
“Facebook is a public portal, and so is widely misused by many,” says Vinayakumar. “Most of the members are Gulf Malayalis and 70 per cent of the profiles of women are fake.
The high tech cell is looking at this issue seriously. We will conduct a detailed inquiry if necessary, and transfer the case to police,” he added.
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