Friends hack UDGAM boy's FB account, post Lewd comments
A depressed Aadit Shah, 15, spent his Diwali vacation behind closed doors after his Facebook mates accused him of posting nasty comments on their wall. He later found out that two of his friends had hacked his account to malign him
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, November 27, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011112720111127030513876f697e30c/Friends-hack-UDGAM-boys-FB-account-post-Lewd-comments.html)
This should serve as a warning bell for parents oblivious to their child’s online habits and the dangers of the cyberworld he/she is exposed to. A class X student of Udgam School was pushed to the brink of depression after his friends hacked his Facebook account to send lewd messages to his acquaintances.
It was jealousy that drove the two students — Kush (name changed) from Udgam and Arpan (name changed) from St Xavier’s Loyola — to hack the FB account of their friend Aadit Shah, 15. The reason: They did not like the fact that a popular student in their group was friendlier with Aadit.
The sad part of the story is that though the two friends admitted to having hacked his account, they are unapologetic. Since Aadit’s parents are concerned about the future of Kush and Arpan as much as they are about their son’s, they have chosen not to register a criminal complaint.
‘THE KEPT TO HIMSELF’
Aadit’s ordeal began on October 24 and continued for nearly 20 days. Disturbed after his FB friends began screaming at him for posting vulgar comments on their profiles, the boy shut himself up in his room.
He did not celebrate Diwali with his family. “He neither tasted the sweets I had prepared nor lit the diyas. What worried me was that he had stopped taking food and would get irritated if we asked him anything. He would keep asking his father whether he knew any professional hacker. When asked why, he would not answer,” said his mother Bhavna Shah.
A fortnight ago, Aadit tried to reset the password of his hacked FB profile. But the hacker had changed the email address and also added his cellphone number to the profile so that any request for password-reset from Aadit came to him for approval.
TRACED CULPRITS BY FLUKE
“When I tried to reset the password, I was asked to enter either the user’s email id or cellphone number. Since Arpan had bullied me in the past, I suspected him of hacking my account. I entered a new password and typed in his cellphone number. I was shocked to get a confirmation from Facebook stating that the approval for new password was sent to the cellphone number I had entered,” said Aadit.
Furious, he called up Arpan. “Initially he told me he wasn’t behind all this. But later his tone changed and he started abusing me. When I threatened to expose him in front of his principal, he said his partner in crime was Kush, one of my classmates. I immediately told my parents about it,” said Aadit.
‘PARENT’S BEHAVIOUR MORE SHOCKING’
Concerned about their child’s emotional well-being, Aadit’s parents fixed a meeting with the parents of the two boys.
“Though both Kush and Arpan admitted to having hacked his FB to malign him, they were not ready to apologise. They kept blaming each other. Arpan would say the laptop was Kush’s and Kush would say the comments were posted by Arpan,” said Dr Malav Shah, Aadit’s father.
Worse than the children’s behaviour, said Aadit’s mother, was the attitude of one of the parents.
“Instead of admonishing him, Arpan’s father told him, ‘Before you do something like this, you should make sure you are not caught. Else you must not do it.’ Is this what a parent should teach his child?”
CULPRITS SAY NO TO APOLOGY
When she asked Arpan and Kush to write a note on Aadit’s wall saying they were responsible for posting dirty comments, the boys came up with another trick — creating a new Facebook account for Aadit and then posting an apology so that his friends did not find out the truth.
“I wouldn’t have known about their plan had Kush not blurted it out. Just imagine to what extent kids can go to make somebody’s life miserable. I have requested Aadit’s principal to ensure that Kush apologises to him in the assembly. Aadit is a bright kid and I don’t want this incident to affect his studies,” said the mother.
‘WON’T USE FACEBOOK AGAIN’
With a harrowing experience behind him, Aadit has decided never to use Facebook again. He said, “While a lot of friends thought I had posted those nasty comments on their profile, there were some who trusted me so much that they were sure I was not behind it. I have decided not to use Facebook again. I value my friends and don’t want to lose them again.”
LECTURE ON ONLINE BEHAVIOUR
Meanwhile, Udgam School is planning to conduct a session on how to conduct themselves on social networking websites. “We take this matter very seriously and shall make sure the incident is not repeated. Parents, too, should monitor their child’s online behaviour,” said Radhika Iyer, principal, Udgam School.
“Earlier, we had invited an expert to explain the perils of online socialising to students of class 6-12. We now plan to organise a lecture for both students and parents on ‘How to conduct oneself on social networking websites’,” Iyer added.
Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, November 27, 2011 (http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/article/2/2011112720111127030513876f697e30c/Friends-hack-UDGAM-boys-FB-account-post-Lewd-comments.html)
This should serve as a warning bell for parents oblivious to their child’s online habits and the dangers of the cyberworld he/she is exposed to. A class X student of Udgam School was pushed to the brink of depression after his friends hacked his Facebook account to send lewd messages to his acquaintances.
It was jealousy that drove the two students — Kush (name changed) from Udgam and Arpan (name changed) from St Xavier’s Loyola — to hack the FB account of their friend Aadit Shah, 15. The reason: They did not like the fact that a popular student in their group was friendlier with Aadit.
The sad part of the story is that though the two friends admitted to having hacked his account, they are unapologetic. Since Aadit’s parents are concerned about the future of Kush and Arpan as much as they are about their son’s, they have chosen not to register a criminal complaint.
‘THE KEPT TO HIMSELF’
Aadit’s ordeal began on October 24 and continued for nearly 20 days. Disturbed after his FB friends began screaming at him for posting vulgar comments on their profiles, the boy shut himself up in his room.
He did not celebrate Diwali with his family. “He neither tasted the sweets I had prepared nor lit the diyas. What worried me was that he had stopped taking food and would get irritated if we asked him anything. He would keep asking his father whether he knew any professional hacker. When asked why, he would not answer,” said his mother Bhavna Shah.
A fortnight ago, Aadit tried to reset the password of his hacked FB profile. But the hacker had changed the email address and also added his cellphone number to the profile so that any request for password-reset from Aadit came to him for approval.
TRACED CULPRITS BY FLUKE
“When I tried to reset the password, I was asked to enter either the user’s email id or cellphone number. Since Arpan had bullied me in the past, I suspected him of hacking my account. I entered a new password and typed in his cellphone number. I was shocked to get a confirmation from Facebook stating that the approval for new password was sent to the cellphone number I had entered,” said Aadit.
Furious, he called up Arpan. “Initially he told me he wasn’t behind all this. But later his tone changed and he started abusing me. When I threatened to expose him in front of his principal, he said his partner in crime was Kush, one of my classmates. I immediately told my parents about it,” said Aadit.
‘PARENT’S BEHAVIOUR MORE SHOCKING’
Concerned about their child’s emotional well-being, Aadit’s parents fixed a meeting with the parents of the two boys.
“Though both Kush and Arpan admitted to having hacked his FB to malign him, they were not ready to apologise. They kept blaming each other. Arpan would say the laptop was Kush’s and Kush would say the comments were posted by Arpan,” said Dr Malav Shah, Aadit’s father.
Worse than the children’s behaviour, said Aadit’s mother, was the attitude of one of the parents.
“Instead of admonishing him, Arpan’s father told him, ‘Before you do something like this, you should make sure you are not caught. Else you must not do it.’ Is this what a parent should teach his child?”
CULPRITS SAY NO TO APOLOGY
When she asked Arpan and Kush to write a note on Aadit’s wall saying they were responsible for posting dirty comments, the boys came up with another trick — creating a new Facebook account for Aadit and then posting an apology so that his friends did not find out the truth.
“I wouldn’t have known about their plan had Kush not blurted it out. Just imagine to what extent kids can go to make somebody’s life miserable. I have requested Aadit’s principal to ensure that Kush apologises to him in the assembly. Aadit is a bright kid and I don’t want this incident to affect his studies,” said the mother.
‘WON’T USE FACEBOOK AGAIN’
With a harrowing experience behind him, Aadit has decided never to use Facebook again. He said, “While a lot of friends thought I had posted those nasty comments on their profile, there were some who trusted me so much that they were sure I was not behind it. I have decided not to use Facebook again. I value my friends and don’t want to lose them again.”
LECTURE ON ONLINE BEHAVIOUR
Meanwhile, Udgam School is planning to conduct a session on how to conduct themselves on social networking websites. “We take this matter very seriously and shall make sure the incident is not repeated. Parents, too, should monitor their child’s online behaviour,” said Radhika Iyer, principal, Udgam School.
“Earlier, we had invited an expert to explain the perils of online socialising to students of class 6-12. We now plan to organise a lecture for both students and parents on ‘How to conduct oneself on social networking websites’,” Iyer added.
