City businessman Rajiv Ruparelia, the Managing Director of Ruparelia Group of Companies and son of mogul Sudhir Ruparelia, has alerted all Ugandans to watch out for fake twitter accounts which conmen are using to fraud from unsuspecting people.
Rajiv’s warning came after he received complaints from several people about accounts on twitter and other social media which some unscrupulous fellows are using to con money from his business associates, friends and colleagues.
“PLEASE DISREGARD THESE FAKE ACCOUNTS THAT ARE EXTORTING MONEY,’ Rajiv tweeted and pinned on Monday morning, alerting all Ugandans about the scammers.
— Rajiv Ruparelia (@RajivRuparelia) August 13, 2020
It should be noted that cybercrime, especially that which rotates around scammers, conmen, extortionists and other types of fraudsters is on the increase in Uganda.
Many of the fraudsters open up fake social media accounts in prominent people’s names, which they use to solicit money from their relatives, friends, business associates and colleagues.
Suffice it to note that whereas, the internet was designed for good, there are negative actors who are intent on using it for harm others through cybercrime and even scarier are those that use it to target people with intent to con them of their hard-earned money.
All Ugandans are also advised be wary of malicious e-mails asking you to verify your personal information in order to access Government support or business opportunities.
To protect yourself, if you receive a malicious e-mail, text message, tweet or any other message that asks for your personal information in order to receive Government support, utilise any opportunity or asking for financial assistance please follow this advise:
Do not click on links
Do not open attachments in such e-mails as it could be malware to infect your computer, laptop or mobile device.
Report such incidents via info@cert.ug
NITA-U has enacted Cyber laws to protect the identity, integrity and data of those the transact or work online, and these include:
- The Electronic Transactions Act (2011) and its attendant Regulations (2013)
- The Electronic Signatures Act (20110 and its attendant Regulations (2013)
- The Computer Misuse Act (2011)
- The Data Privacy and Protection Act (2019)
The IT regulatory authority calls upon the public to avoid cybercrime and security measures by remembering the above stated tips to protect yourself and help stop criminals from taking advantage of unsuspecting Ugandans.
Note that Social media is an excellent place for identity theft, since all the information criminals need to pursue you is freely available online; whether it’s your date of birth or your mother’s maiden name on your Facebook account.
You may be thinking, “Criminals can’t see that information… I’ve blocked it in my privacy settings,” but there are tricks fraudsters use to gain control of your device and access to your information.
Given that social data is now “where the money is,” criminals have created specialized tools, in the form of targeted viruses and Trojans, to take over your device and other social media accounts without your permission.
Criminals take advantage of the trust we extend to those in our social network by masquerading electronically as these trusted parties, invariably tricking users into clicking on a link that will ultimately infect a computer with a virus, Trojan, or worm.
