Lahore: The Punjab Home Department has issued an emergency
advisory in view of the increasing incidents of WhatsApp hacking and
impersonation-based fraud across the province.
According to the advisory, administrative departments,
police officials, and field formations in Punjab have been warned that several
incidents of serving government officers' WhatsApp accounts being hacked have
come to light in recent days.
According to the authorities, cybercriminals gain
unauthorized access to these accounts and send fake messages to the contacts of
the concerned officers, often requesting emergency financial assistance to
cheat people and extort money.
The advisory states that fraudsters use publicly available
information such as names, positions and photos to create fake and believable
digital identities, due to which such fraud has seen an alarming increase.
The Home Department has directed all institutions to tighten
security measures, monitor suspicious activities and not act on any unusual
message or request without verification.
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