Fraudsters impersonating celebrities or their managers on social media to lure victims and con them is nothing new. However, with people turning savvy and becoming wary off such con acts, scammers are now targeting their marks under the name of well-established bureaucrats.
In a recent instance, a minor Rajasthan boy was nabbed by the City Cyber Crime police. He tried to swindle money by creating a fake Facebook account under IG P Vijayan's name.
After creating the IG’s fake profile, the boy sent messages to his friends seeking money. IG P Vijayan warned people regarding this after noticing the fake profile. During a probe into the incident, fake accounts of several police officials were discovered.
This incident forced the police to intensify the investigation. While investigating various other cyber cases, including the honey trap case in Thiruvananthapuram, the police team that reached Rajasthan arrested the minor culprit. He was using his mobile phone provided by his family for his online class for unethical activities.
IG P Vijayan is a 1999 batch officer of the Indian Police Service officer. He is currently serving as Inspector General of Police. He led the teams that investigated cases such as the Kalamassery Bus Burning Case, the Sabarimala Thanthri case and the email threat case against the Prime Minister of India.
IG P Vijayan's case is not the only case. On Monday, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant too had a similar experience. In a Facebook post, Amitabh Kant said someone had opened a fake Facebook account in his name.
Even Special Protection Group (SPG) Director Arun Kumar Sinha’s fake Facebook profiles are surfing on social media platforms. But, so far no fraudulent activities using his fake account were reported.
