Digital Doppelgangers: The Dark Side of Social Media

What is the scam all about? 

These days, social media has become a part of our lives. Whether we go out on a picnic, or attend a close friend’s wedding or just take part in any celebration, we invariably post these pics on social media. 

However, once you put them out, your photos can be morphed by cyber crooks to suit their whims and fancies. 

The modus operandi

Once these crooks get their hands on photos posted on social media, they morph the photos in order to send out a wrong message. For example, the face of one person can be superimposed on another person’s face, thereby giving an impression that the morphed face is the actual person. We will give you another example, if the cyber criminals access the photo of a lady who is revealing her body parts, they can superimpose your face with that of the lady in question. This has in fact happened to Rashmika Mandanna. Such a sleight of hand can be character assassinating. 

Once the morphing happens, cyber criminals can call up victims and extort them. If you don’t honour them, they can flood the social media with the tailored photos. 

They can use advanced software like Adobe to morph images. 

It is now that the game begins. They send the morphed photos to the same account they took the photos from. And then the threat of extortion 

begins. 

How to protect yourself

Whenever you are uploading sensitive photos, be very careful. This could include your family photos too. To be on the safer side, always make use of the profile lock feature. In case you get extortion calls, always approach the cyber police. 

In this way you can remain safe to a great extent.