Take Simran Malhotra a trip and fitness affected Simran Malhotra with 656,000 followers on his Instagram handle @malhotra_simran. In two reels last month, he gave a detailed description of how he was approached by a fraud, who pretended to be an impressive marketing agent representing the apparel brand Blissclub and Skincare brand Skincraft.
He asked him to share his personal details and to give access to his Google photo account for online consultation and privatization of products, including pictures of his body parts, including intimate areas. He also said how he settled the situation by involving the authorities.
“There are no rules on brand collaborations, therefore, individuals claim to be freelance influential managers and arrive with these proposals. There is no way to confirm whether they are valid or not, “Malhotra said Mint,
Querry, emailed to Blissclub and Skincraft on Tuesday, did not respond.
Cyber security expert Lalit Kalra, a partner in the consulting firm EY, said that such scams target the affected due to their popularity. “After achieving access to your personal data, the scammer spoils them or blackmails them and plays on psychological factors such as fear and frustration of the affected to protect their public image from tarnishing.”
Another influential person, Vari Srivastava, who has more than 94,800 followers on Instagram handle @She_is_asteria, faced a similar fraud when he was pretended to be an ethliser and inner wear brand by a fraud.
Srivastava said, “It is easy for the brand deals to give fodder to the affected.” Srivastava revealed that he was contacted with a proposal last July 70,000 for cooperation.
Bhagishri Raut, who makes fashion and lifestyles content and has more than 721,000 followers in her account @bhagyasirii, said that scams contacted her with an open budget for a deal and without any conversation, Agreed for 2.5 lakh for a hair removal brand content marketing project.
He said, “A related factor was that they were on a constant call guiding me through the processes of following the link, distracting me and that too, on WhatsApp calls that cannot be recorded,” Said.
Raut emphasized the importance of maintaining an confirmation email, paperwork or official record of contract, especially for creators like him who are not under any agency, to avoid hunting such scams.
Police prompt
Malhotra claimed that the cyber police immediately approached him after the reel exploded, and his investigation confirmed that the fraudster was registered under several names and was a Conman. He also said that by advising against such cyber crime, Blissclub reacted to this, saying that he never asks the affected people working in Instagram Story to personal details or pictures. Since Instagram stories are not visible after 24 hours of uploading, Mint Could not verify it independently.
Kalra of EY suggests that those affecting in such cases should first report the events to the officials and take active measures to cut the access to their data by resetting credentials and passwords and approving cash and search history. Then, they should examine any unusual backand issues such as quick battery drainage and contact cyber experts to help.
But there is nothing better than prudent and constantly verified and verified before doing any task compromising with personal data.
Supreme Court advocate and founder of Cyber Sathi, NS Nappai said that the affected should be cautious about sharing any personal data because the power they raise are to threaten them by scamsters to threaten them If misuse is done and possibly use their large following, to promote the scam. “Influencers need to use caution and proper hard work while interacting on brand deals and limiting the data shared by them. Preventive measures still treat Trump, “he said.
Digital arrest
Another rapidly growing scam of the so -called digital ‘arrests’ is also reaching the impressive shores. Ankush Bahuguna, a mega influencer with more than 1.1 million followers on Instagram, posted a reel posted a month ago about being a victim of a digital arrest, which received large -scale traction on social media.
“I was missing from social media for the last three days because I was taken hostage by some scammers,” the social media content manufacturer said in his post. Mint First reported.
Sumanto Chattopadhyay, an independent creative advisor, said, “The scandal on the influential Ankush Bahuguna should be a wakeup call for all,” an independent creative advisor, with such fraud being more common and more refined – Together saying that days pass.
“The only way to protect yourself is to ask the promoted brand manager to call the official number registered. In addition, one should not have access to sensitive personal information and images- despite the pressure. A procedure should be pushed that protects someone’s privacy and data, “Chattopadhyay said.
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