IMPHAL, July 5: Social network sites have become an avenue for cybercrime activities.
A woman from Singjamei area of Imphal has been recently duped through the popular social network site, Facebook.
Sources inform that the woman is a regular Facebook user.
She was befriended by a man with a fake European name (Facebook profile name). Apparently the friendship between them grew into a relationship.
According to the source, the man had promised the woman to send a gift worth a few hundred Euros. Taking advantage of the growing relationship, the man had requested the woman to bear the shipping charge of the gift, it said.
Sources further said that the woman had agreed to bear the shipping charge. For that she had to deposit an amount of Rs 30, 000 in the name of a fake bank account operated by the same man.
The woman was made to believe that the bank account holder was a close friend of the said man.
On further investigation, the account was found operating with a fake name from the State Bank of India, Kangpokpi branch of Senapati District, it said.
Sources also inform that the woman also has her bank account in the SBI. The fake male friend was not a European, but someone possibly operating from metropolitan cities like Chennai, Banglore and Delhi. It said there has been report of other cases of woman, particularly from the northeast getting duped in the same way.
It may be mentioned that IFP had already reported cybercrimes escalating in the State.
An independent investigation conducted by IFP in May this year had revealed that since the enactment of the IT Act 2000, the concerned Ministry had instructed all the states to draft and submit their own guidelines (IT Act) as per the convenience of the State.
Subsequently, Manipur also drafted its own guideline in 2009 and submitted the same to the concerned Home department. However, the guidelines never saw the daylight with the higher authority failing to give the approval.