Vice President candidate Margaret Alva falls for online scam, but blames 'Big Brother'

Promising not to call any MP from the BJP, TMC or BJD on Monday night, Opposition's Vice-Presidential candidate Margaret Alva shared a message from the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited that said that her SIM card's Know Your Customer or KYC had been suspended. However, there is a big catch here.

Opposition's Vice-Presidential candidate Margaret Alva has levelled snooping charges against the government and accused it of creating an atmosphere of fear that "kills democracy."

In a Twitter post, Alva said: "The fear that 'Big Brother' is always watching & listening permeates all conversations between politicians across party lines in 'new' India. MPs and leaders of parties carry multiple phones, frequently change numbers & talk in hushed whispers when they meet. Fear kills democracy."

Alva's remarks are being viewed as a follow-up to her allegation that she was unable to make or receive phone calls and that calls to her phone were being diverted after she reached out to "some friends in the BJP".

Promising not to call any MP from the BJP, TMC or BJD on Monday night, Alva shared a message from the Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited that said that her SIM card's Know Your Customer or KYC had been suspended. However, there is big catch here.

The screenshot that Alva shared in her post was of a cyber fraud racket about which the Delhi Police had warned over a week ago.

The Delhi Police Cyber Cell had warned customers that there was a sharp spike in fraudulent incidents wherein MTNL's name and logo were being misused to commit cyber fraud. 

The police warned that scamsters were sending WhatsApp messages to mobile customers on the pretext of KYC updation to retrieve confidential information about them.

Urging people to remain vigilant, the Delhi Police Cyber Cell asked customers not to click on unverified links and share personal information. It further clarified that MTNL does not carry out KYC verification over WhatsApp.

Social media users slammed Alva's posts. Some even questioned her credibility in holding the vice-president's post when she used an online scam to score political brownie points. 

In the last three years, over three million cases related to lakh cyber security have been reported across the country. This year alone, 6.7 lakh cyber security cases were reported till June. Creating awareness about cyber threats is among the many measures the government has adopted to safeguard people from such threats. In this regard, the government routinely issues alerts and advisories regarding vulnerabilities and cyber threats to protect networks and computers.