Kollam Police Thwart Cyber Fraud Attempt Impersonating Police Chief

Kollam (Kerala), Sep 1 (PTI): Police in Kollam have initiated an investigation following an attempted cyber fraud aimed at deceiving officers by impersonating the district police chief. A scammer created a fake WhatsApp account using the profile picture of District Police Chief Vishu Pratheep TK and attempted to solicit money, a senior police official reported on Monday.

A case has been registered at the Kollam Cyber Police Station. Several officials from the Kollam Rural Police recently received messages from the WhatsApp number +9779702927435. The fraudster, posing as the police chief, asked for an urgent transfer of Rs 40,000. Alerted by a previous knowledge of similar scams in the state, the officials quickly informed their superiors, the police officer stated.

According to the officials, no money was transferred in this incident.

The Social Media Monitoring Cell took swift action and alerted the Cyber Police Station. A case has been registered under specific sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) related to cheating and crime with a common intention, as well as sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act pertaining to identity theft and cheating through impersonation, according to police sources.

Preliminary investigations have traced the fraudster's request for fund transfer to a bank account located in Songate, New Delhi. The police are currently tracking down the account holder to examine any connections to other fraudulent activities.

Similar scams have been on the rise in Kerala, involving scammers impersonating high-profile individuals such as senior police officers, politicians, and businessmen. In separate incidents reported, finance officers of two major companies in the state suffered financial losses after being deceived by impersonators claiming to be their managing directors, the police added.

(Only the headline of this report may have been reworked by Editorji; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)