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🇮🇳 India /Crime & Justice

Niti Aayog Vice Chairman's Phone Number Hacked; Fraudulent Money Requests Sent via WhatsApp

From Hindustan Times · (45m ago) English Critical tone

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

TLDR

  • Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri reported his phone number was hacked on Thursday evening.
  • The hacker allegedly used the number to send WhatsApp messages requesting money.
  • Lahiri warned the public not to trust any money requests received from his number, citing a deceptive act.

A concerning incident has emerged involving Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Ashok Kumar Lahiri, whose personal phone number was reportedly hacked. Lahiri took to Facebook to alert the public, stating that the perpetrator used his number to send fraudulent messages on WhatsApp, soliciting financial assistance. This alert comes just before Lahiri was set to assume his new role on Friday, adding a layer of urgency to the situation.

Just to inform everyone that my personal phone number has been hacked. If I get anyone asking money, sending phonepe/google pay number or any other financial help message from this number, please don’t trust anyone and make any money transactions. This is totally fake and deceptive act. Be careful and let others know. Thank you.

— Ashok Kumar LahiriHis warning to the public on Facebook after his phone number was hacked.

The modus operandi described is a common impersonation scam. Screenshots shared by Lahiri show an individual posing as him urgently requesting a significant sum of money, claiming their UPI service was non-functional. The recipient's attempts to verify by calling were met with text-based communication only, a tactic often employed by scammers to avoid voice verification. This highlights a persistent vulnerability in digital communication platforms.

WhatsApp hasn’t made two-factor authentication mandatory, it leaves it up to the user to activate it. This leaves India’s 60-70 crore users on WhatsApp vulnerable. The cases related to digital arrests, sextortion, account takeover - 85% of them happen on WhatsApp.

— Department of Telecommunication OfficialExplaining the vulnerability of WhatsApp users in India due to the lack of mandatory two-factor authentication.

An official from the Department of Telecommunication pointed to the lack of mandatory multi-factor authentication on platforms like WhatsApp as a major contributing factor to such incidents in India, where a vast user base is potentially exposed. The official stressed the need for platforms to implement stronger user protections, especially given the varying levels of digital literacy among the population. While reporting to cybercrime portals and WhatsApp's own mechanisms are available, the ease with which accounts can be compromised underscores the ongoing challenge of securing digital identities and preventing financial fraud.

People in India aren’t yet digitally literate, so the onus is on such platforms to put user protections in place.

— Department of Telecommunication OfficialHighlighting the responsibility of digital platforms to enhance user security.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Hindustan Times in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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