A data analyst working with a multinational company in Airoli has registered a case with the Vashi police after she found that her Facebook display picture was used by an unidentified person to create a fake profile and to send obscene messages.
Friends get messages
The complainant lives with her aunt in Sector 9, Vashi, while her parents stay in her home town. In October 2018, a friend of the complainant asked her if she had created a second Facebook profile in the name Nutan Jadhav. “The friend said the profile, which had the complainant’s profile picture, was sending her obscene chat messages,” a police officer from Vashi police station said.
The complainant realised that the accused had initiated chats with several people from her friend list.
She submitted a written complaint to the Cyber Cell in CBD Belapur, which contacted Facebook to find the mobile number used to create the account and the IP address. The mobile number in question was found to belong to a man from Karad in Satara. The mobile number attached to the IP address from where the account was used was different, and belonged to another man from Satara.
“The complainant says both names are unfamiliar to her. We are investigating the case, but are yet to make any arrests. It is possible that the accused knows the complainant and did this act to take revenge,” the officer said. Subsequently, a case was registered with the Vashi police under Section 66 (c) (identity theft) of the IT Act on January 22.
Safety tips
Tushar Doshi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, (crime), Navi Mumbai, said, “While operating Facebook, one should accept friends requests only of people one knows. Secondly, the privacy settings should be such that no third person can access any profile data. There is a feature to guard the display picture which prevents anyone from taking a screenshot. And if a case of identity theft is found, the police should be informed about it soon. Also, if one sees a second profile with a friend’s picture or name, one should confirm if the friend has created a duplicate profile.”
