Over 1,700 complaints against local facebook offenders

By Maheesha Mudugamuwa

The Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Readiness Team (SLCERT) said that it had recorded 1,700 Facebook-related complaints up to July this year.

SLCERT Media Spokesman and Senior Information Security Engineer Roshan Chandragupta told The Morning that 80% of the complaints were related to Facebook and fake accounts.

The SLCERT has recorded 3,822 complaints last year, out of which 3,600 were related to Facebook. In 2016, there were 2,341 complaints, of which 2,200 were related to Facebook.

Some tended to hack others’ passwords in an attempt to extort money, he said, stressing that Facebook had become a favourite hunting ground for hackers, resulting in people with malicious intent searching for victims within the Facebook network.

“When SLCERT received a complaint about fake Facebook account, the team advised the complainant to report it to Facebook and the team also did likewise,” Chandragupta said.

He also said the team could give technical support for those who wanted to make complaints to Facebook or to recover a hacked account. But if an individual wanted to identify who the hacker was and take legal action, the complainant was directed to get a police report and file a lawsuit.