Dragnet to check Facebook crimes

* Most regarding fake accounts

* Over 650 complaints

Ridma DISSANAYAKE

Over 650 complaints have been received within the past eight months regarding various illegal acts carried out by persons using Facebook, Sri Lanka Computer Emergency Response Team's (SLCERT) Senior Information Security Engineer Rohana Palliyaguru told the Daily News.

The majority of those complaints are regarding fake Facebook accounts. Fake Facebook accounts are made by unscrupulous persons using others' information without their knowledge. It has become a serious threat to the society, he said.

SLCERT had inactivated most of those fake Facebook accounts after clarifying the identification of those persons, Palliyaguru added.

Complaints are also made regarding the hacking of pass words.

Some people tend to hack other's pass words to demand a ransom, he noted. Palliyaguru said that measures have been taken to cancel these fake accounts.

Several complaints have also been received of scams and fraud carried out with the use of the popular Facebook website.

"If anyone wants to take legal action against such fraudsters he or she can report to the Criminal Investigation Department about these matters," Palliyaguru said.