Dubai: A thief used information posted by a family on social media to rob their home while they were away.
This was one example cited by Nouri Safwan, network security engineer and awareness specialist at the Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) to highlight how social media can land you in trouble if you are not careful about the way you use it.
Safwan was speaking at the cyber blackmail awareness session held at Gulf News on Tuesday.
Elaborating on the robbery case, Safwan said the suspect was following the social media accounts of the father and his two daughters.
The daughters had posted pictures saying goodbye to their domestic help, who took a vacation. Soon after, one of the daughters posted pictures of the entire family on vacation.
“The man knew the house was empty, and the girls had used their geo-location, which helped him locate the house,” Safwan said.
The suspect broke into the house “and stole everything he wanted, put it on a table, had an espresso, packed the items in a bag, which he realised was too small, so went and got another bag, packed it and walked out through the main door and left in a taxi,” Safwan said.
The session, a collaboration between the TRA, Dubai Police and Dubai Police’s Al Ameen services, aimed to raise awareness of the dangers of cyber blackmail, its legal aspects and the cybercrime law, as well as the risks of social media misuse.
“Nothing is private on the internet,” Safwan told participants. “Have any of you read the terms and conditions of any of the apps you use?”
He explained that most social media networks, including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, state that they have the rights to save, delete and repost your photos.
“How do you think these companies make their money? It is not just from advertisements. Google and Yahoo have in 2013 said that they sell your information. Facebook sells your information too,”
In the UAE, Safwan said, cyber blackmail is an issue and people from all walks of life, including those in high-profile jobs, teenagers, university students as well as university professors, were its victims.
People, he said, usually give in to blackmail in the fear of being exposed.
“Never pay a blackmailer, report him to the police or TRA and we will take care of it,” he advised. “We can block the links they post [containing the blackmail material] and we contact YouTube to block the videos as soon as they are posted. The police will also be able to track the blackmailer and if they are in the country, they can arrest them and if they are abroad, it depends on the cooperation between the country and Dubai Police.”
Safwan urged people not to post personal information or post their location information. He also urged people not to share information or provide access to third party apps that could be using the access for malafide purposes.