Cybercriminals are now hacking into phones by tricking people into testing their oxygen levels

�

Hyderabad: Cybercriminals in the city are up to a new way of stealing personal data from users. A cybersecurity expert in the state has released an advisory saying that people should be wary of downloading any applications that claim to test your oxygen levels.

Reportedly, messages are being circulated to citizens saying that a particular application can test the level of oxygen in their blood. This is being circulated at a time when information about oxygen levels can be used to figure out the presence of coronavirus in the body.

The Telangana State Police has also uploaded a message on their official Twitter handle to let people know that any claims of testing oxygen levels in phone by using #PulseOxyMeter in the message is fraud.

�

COVID-19, along with high fever, breathlessness, and runny nose, causes oxygen levels in the blood to drop.

The applications that claim to test one's oxygen levels, do so by telling users to scan their fingerprint for a period of a minute or two.

The cybersecurity expert, Dr Ananth Prabhu G, warns that this way cybercriminals can access our fingerprint and use it to commit money-related cyber frauds. Since our bank accounts can be easily accessed by a fingerprint, it can be used by cybercriminals to see our account balance and previous transactions.

It also offers them the chance to access one's private data such as photos and videos on the phone.

To avoid falling prey to such a crime, it is advised to not fall for any applications that claim to test your oxygen level through the phone.