New Delhi: Although watching pornography in a private space is not a crime in India, except when it depicts child pornography or rape or violence against women, the word is taboo in a ‘good, cultured society’ and being caught red-handed can bring shame and scorn.
No wonder scammers find it easy to blackmail those who consume such content. According to a recent report, people on porn sites are being met with a fake pop-up that warns users that their “browser has been locked” for watching porn videos. A security researcher has alerted people about this scam, further sharing a screenshot of a suspicious URL resulting in a full-page pop-up on a Google Chrome browser.
Internet security researcher Rajshekhar Rajaharia has warned on Twitter how the pop-up warns users that their browser has been locked due to watching porn. The pop-up asks users for money in exchange of unblocking the browser. It has been disguised in a way that it appears to be from the Ministry of Law and Justice and states that the user’s computer “has been blocked” under decree number 173-279. It also warns users that the browser has been locked due to “viewing and dissemination of materials forbidden by the law of India.”
Further, the pop-up asks users for Rs 29,000 as a penalty to unlock their computer. It states that the case materials for the computer will be transferred to the ministry for criminal proceedings if the user fails to pay the penalty. It gives the user six hours to pay the fine.
What is more, the message also has a “Payment Details” section where users can make the payment via a Visa or MasterCard card. It says that the browser will be unlocked as soon as the payment is made.
What should you do?
First things first. Avoid watching porn if you don’t want to fall for such a scam. However, if such a pop-up shows on your computer, the easiest thing to do is close the browser window. If that does not work and the pop-up has taken over your browser (an unlikely scenario), then you can go to the Task Manager (ctrl+alt+delete) and End Task for your browser. Further, a force shut down will also help your case, in case the previous two methods don’t work.
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