Email of misnuse of cyber cell
Answers
1. Hacking of the E-mail account:-
The email account of the victim is hacked by using various tools to capture the password of the account. This can be achieved by:-
• Sending phishing emails purportedly from genuine email accounts of the email service (but actually fake). The email contains links that prompt you to visit a page for updating your password and other credentials on the pretext of some system update, data loss, technology upgrade, regulatory compliance, etc. The links direct you to a fake page where, once you enter your login ID and password, the same get stealthily stolen by the fraudsters.
• Sending you unsolicited/spam mails containing attachments that have malwares embedded in them. Once such emails are opened and attachments activated the malware gets discreetly downloaded and installed on your device. The malware could be a keylogger that captures and sends all the keyboard taps to the fraudsters, which includes your account passwords. The other possible malwares could be ones that capture screenshot or read and transmit saved passwords.
• Email accounts having 2-factor authentication can also be got hacked when users share their OTP with fraudsters after getting tricked by social engineering tools.
2. Once an email account has been hacked the criminal can misuse the account for the following purposes:-
• Sending SOS mails to all your contacts asking for money citing some emergency such as passport, wallet etc. getting stolen in a foreign country, etc.
• Sending offensive messages to your friends and relatives or asking for some ransom for not sending such offensive messages.
• Sending mails to your clients and customers asking for payment of dues/remittances in a different bank account, thus swindling with your money.
• Using the unauthorized access to your email to gain access to your other online accounts, such as other email accounts, net-banking accounts, social media accounts, etc.