The investigation found that the officials were told via texts to arrange gift cards in less than an hour and that the minister would reimburse them for their costs at the end of the day because he was busy in meetings and didn't have his credit or debit cards with him.
Digital
Desk: The state police chief, two senior bureaucrats, and a minister of cabinet
level in the Assam government are among the most well-known figures to have
fallen victim to internet scammers after unknown con artists opened phony WhatsApp accounts in their identities to con officials and their friends.
Bimal Borah, the minister for industry, commerce, public
business, and cultural affairs in Assam, filed a FIR with the police on Monday
after it was discovered that someone had created a WhatsApp account using his
identity and image to send messages and con people.
"Messages requesting them to transfer money by
purchasing various gift cards were sent to some officials from departments
under my control. Thankfully, nobody sent any money, and I was made aware of
the situation. "I have urged the police to look into it and find the
criminals," stated Borah.
The investigation found that the officials were told via
texts to arrange gift cards in less than an hour and that the minister would
reimburse them for their costs at the end of the day because he was busy in
meetings and didn't have his credit or debit cards with him.
The
Deputy Commissioners of Kamrup (metro) district Pallav Gopal Jha and Barpeta
district Tej Prasad Bhushal filed complaints with the police on Tuesday, the
day after Borah filed an FIR, alleging that con artists had set up fictitious
WhatsApp accounts in their names and were messaging officials in search of
money.
Following
these events, the Assam Police on Wednesday issued a warning against similar
practises and urged people not to provide their personal information.
"Citizens
are urged to exercise great caution when dealing with WhatsApp messages from
shady numbers that include familiar faces. Most likely, it is a con. The
warning stated, "Right now report such texts and block the numbers.
Assam
Police's cybercrime units have begun their investigations based on the FIRs.
The
Assam Police's crime investigation division (CID) began looking into a bogus
account in April of this year that was being used to send messages to different
people requesting money while using the image of the state director general of
police (DGP), Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta.
These instances constitute impersonation rather than
hacking. To find out who is behind all of these crimes, we are in contact with
WhatsApp authorities, said DGP Mahanta to a local TV station.
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