ISLAMABAD: The social media account of a well-reputed inspector of Islamabad Police, Rukhsar Mehdi, on Sunday was hacked by some unidentified hacker who later sent messages to dozens of his friends and asked to deposit money in his mobile account through a mobile financial service provider.
Rukhsar claimed that he will not register a formal complaint with Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) as he thinks the investigation agency cannot trace the culprit.
“Some friends who don’t know me personally might have sent money on demand my by the hacker through my account, but the people who know me well know the fact that I never make such demands,” said Anti-Car Lifting Cell Station House Officer (SHO), Rukhsar Mehdi.
Rukhsar Mehdi is among the best-reputed inspectors of Islamabad police having investigation experience of over two decades. He has served as the SHO in almost every police station in the federal capital.
He said that his account was recovered as some of his close family members helped him to retrieve the account.
Facebook account of Rukhsar was hacked by an unidentified hacker at about 2:30 pm and then he updated his status at 5 pm saying “Dear friends my Facebook account was recently hacked. Apologies.”
Rukhsar said that he is receiving dozens of calls from his friends about the matter and some of them also told him that they’ve also received such messages from his Facebook account.
Rana Farasat Faheem, a recently promoted Head Constable of Islamabad Police, Operator of Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Operations Sajid Kayani and among the victims of the hacker revealed that he knows the person who hacked Rukhsar’s account.
At around 3 pm he got a message on Facebook. “Give the shopkeeper (03176457883 – converted to Telenor network) this mobile number which already has an account on that mobile financial service provider. Shopkeeper will ask you about the name and number. The number is already sent to you and name is ‘Ahsan Sahil’.”
Rana Farasat said that the impersonator asked me to transfer Rs10,000 to this account as soon as possible. Later, he received a video call which was missed. However, he did not transfer the money. According to Farasat, with the help of the number, tracing the hacker can be possible.
Moreover, Malik Hamza Awan, Faiz Kiani and some other Facebook friends were also amongst the victims who were told to transfer Rs10,000.
Responding to a question, whether he will register his complaint with the FIA about the matter, he said that the cyber crime wing of FIA is already overburdened. “I don’t think so they can trace the hacker. I have to do something by myself. I will not spare them anyway,” he cautioned.
He concluded that these types of frauds are now ubiquitous. He regretted that many people are becoming a victim of such crimes. People have to be aware of this new technique so they can save themselves, he advised. He suggested all social media users to revisit their account’s privacy settings and put a filter like mobile number code requirement for login.
When asked about any voluntary action, the FIA Cyber Crime Wing Deputy Director, Imran Saeed, told Pakistan Today that until and unless anyone registers his or her complaint with them, they are unable to start investigations no matter if the person is from police or so.
“FIA has specialization in tracing the hackers. It’s unfortunate that their fellow men lack trust in them,” Imran said.
