The first thing that comes to mind after clicking spectacular images on a trip or getting that selfie spot on is to upload it on the social media and most likely that is Facebook. While the social media site is flooded with millions of such pictures everyday, there is another side to the story, which is not so pleasant.
In many instances, pictures of girls are stolen from their Facebook profiles to use them as profile pictures or on pages promoting pornography or sex chats. The images are morphed or used as original images on several fake profiles, as uploading nude images leads to the profile being blocked by Facebook authorities.
While the police hardly bother to take action on such activities, a group of ethical hackers called Kerala Cyber Warriors are taking the fight to such criminals, by taking down pages and profiles that misuse images belonging to female users, as reported by India Today.
The group of white-hat hackers have by far hacked and deactivated 70 profiles and several other pages that lure people for sex chat. The criminals also use it as a means to rip off people by offering paid sex chats, and extort money from girls through blackmailing.
Although such acts were initially used for revenge in case of break ups, the group launched the offensive following arrest of 11 people for a sex racket, which was exposed by an investigation into a profile called Kochu Sundarikal from Kerala, as reported by International Business Times.
While legal action isn’t in their hands, the group tries to get IDs blocked by reporting abuse, and if that doesn’t work they hack and block them. They also reveal the phone numbers, real identity and IP address of criminals to expose and shame them.
While the offenders also take pictures of unsuspecting women in public places, the police say that the number of complaints are increasing every day, but when they contact Facebook, the reply is not prompt.
While groups like Kerala Cyber Warriors and the police figure out ways to combat misuse of pictures on the social media, it is best to stay careful while uploading pictures online, and stick to maximum security measures.
Feature image source: Reuters
