Woman falls victim to identity thief
9 September 2009 (The Star)

PETALING JAYA: Swashna (not her real name) wondered why strangers kept sending requests to add her as a friend on their profile at a popular social networking site.

The 25-year-old company executive is normally careful about who she adds to her own profile, so she was surprised to find total strangers claiming to know her.

"They said that I had added them as friends on some other social networking site so I went to the website to look," Swashna said in a telephone interview with In.Tech from Perak.

What she found was that someone had set up a fake profile at the site using her photos and personal details. When she contacted the person, asking that the profile be taken down, the perpetrator locked her out by making the profile private-viewable only by designated people.

Swashna does not know why the person has set up the fake profile and suspects that the perpetrator is someone she knows. She is worried that the person may be up to no good.

"I am really scared that this could turn out to be something more sinister than just someone stealing my pictures online and putting up a fake social profile," she said. "But I don't know what I can do about it."

According to cybersecurity company F-Secure Malaysia, Swashna's is not an isolated case and even online-security experts can fall victim to the deed.

Chia Wing Fei, security labs security response manager at F-Secure, said he was a victim of this kind of identity theft about a year ago. He reported the abuse to the social networking site, which immediately took down the fake account.

"The perpetrator had taken my pictures and other details from another site, and did the same with some of my friends' profiles," he said.

It's a form of identity theft, according to F-Secure.

But real damage can happen, Chia said, such as if your identity is used to swindle money from your friends.

For example, he said, the perpetrator could contact your friends and pose as you, saying that you've been robbed while on holiday and that you need money quick to get home. "Such cases are being reported all the time," he added.

"Or, the person could post lewd suggestions online, ruining your reputation, or make provocative political or social statements that could land you in hot water," Chia said.

There's also a possibility of the perpetrator using the fake profile to induce people you know to unknowingly download malware (malicious software).

"Messages sent via these (social networking) sites can be embedded with codes that redirect users to a website hosting malicious programs," he warned.

Help is at hand

Cybersecurity Malaysia, the Government's specialist on cyberspace security, believes that such cases should not be taken lightly.

Its chief executive officer, Lt Col (retired) Husin Jazri, said the organisation has handled such cases before.

It will use its expert knowledge in data forensics to help the victim prove that his or her identity has been stolen. It will then contact the social networking site in question to get the fake profile taken down.

Cybersecurity Malaysia can also refer the case to the police for further action.

Husin said Swashna, and any other victims of such incidents, should ask for Cybersecurity Malaysia's help by sending an e-mail to cyber999@cybersecurity.my.

"Internet users should always be aware of the kind of personal information they put online because these can become public knowledge, making them susceptible to abuse or exploitation," he said. "Be very cautious about this."