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Hacker asks doctor's friends, relatives around the world for monetary help
Several cases of e-mail hacking are registered with the cyber crime cell of the police in the city ever month. On Friday, noted sexologist Padmini Prasad became a victim.
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Precaution: The first thing Dr Padmini Prasad did after the hacking was change her password |
The hacker sent mails to her friends and relatives living in different parts of the world. The mail said the doctor was stuck in London after losing her money and requested $ 1,500 (Rs 70,000) to settle her hotel bills and get home.
The mail read: 'Sorry to inform you that I didn't inform you about my travel to London to attend a programme.
| Be On your Guard |
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Keep your password strong and long.
If case sensitive, password should use combination of upper and lower case letters, interspersed with special characters and numbers.
Do not share your passwords with anyone.
Make a habit of logging off after you are done. Always close the browser to prevent others from gaining access to any personal details online.
Change password regularly (at least twice a month). | I am facing some difficulties as I have misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept. I would like you to assist me with a loan of $1,500 to sort out my hotel bills and to get myself back home. I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with, I will refund the money back to you as soon as I return, let me know if you can be of any help?'
Prasad came to know about the hacking on the very day it happened and lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police station. Prasad said, "I got to know about this on Friday and I lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police and also with Rajajinagar police station. I got so many calls from my friends and relatives from all over enquiring about what had happened to me. I even got calls from many doctors from other countries."
The first thing Prasad did after the hacking was to change her e-mail password to avoid any more of the same from the hacker.
She said, "After reading the mail many of my friends and relatives wanted to help me and many of them replied to the mail. They got a mail from the hacker asking them to transfer the money to a particular bank account number."
Prasad said even Dr Sachidananda Babu, a noted astrologer, tried to help her and replied to the mail. The hacker gave him the bank account number as well. On an average, two cases of hacking get reported to the cyber crime police every week. | 
