‘Email phishing’ emerges as a new form of cybercrime

KATHMANDU: The Metropolitan Crime Division has been receiving around 10 -15 complaints about ’email phishing’ on a daily basis.

‘Phishing’ has lately been emerging as a new form of cybercrime with the increasing use of social networking sites.

According to the Oxford Learner’s Dictionary, ‘phishing’ is defined as an ‘activity of tricking people by getting them to give their identity, bank account numbers, etc. over the Internet or by email, and then using these to steal money from them’.

It is, therefore, an illegal way of accessing other’s emails, information, passwords, and credit numbers to steal money.

Division’s Cyber Section Chief Police Inspector Leelaraj Dangi said that the risk of email phishing is increasingly high while making payment through email for purchasing goods from abroad.

Likewise, emails of travel and tour companies and trekking, too, are at risk of coming under phishing.

Several complaints relating to such activities have been registered at the Division, Dangi said.

According to him, some 452 cybercrime-related complaints were registered in the Division in the past three months.

Cases such as swindling people up to Rs 10 million through the social network in the name of the lottery also come to the Division.

People ranging from 20 to 30 age group make up the highest percent (39.92 identified as having associated with cybercrime.

The Division has filed cases under cybercrime against 11 people so far in the current fiscal year.

The Central Cyber was established in 2075 BS to deal with cybercrime.