Thiruvananthapuram: A teacher in Kollam was duped of Rs 14 lakh by fraudsters who sent messages from a fake WhatsApp account, posing as the state police chief Anil Kant.
The teacher, Anitha of Kundra in Kollam, received a message on WhatsApp that she had won an online lottery and that a case would be filed if she did not pay the tax. The police probe revealed that a gang from north India was behind the fraud.
The fraud was committed using the photo of DGP Anil Kant. The woman first received a message, from another number, that said she has won the lottery and that she needs to transfer Rs 14 lakh as a service charge for getting the prize money. But she did not believe this message, and then the fraudsters sent a message from a fake WhatsApp account with a photo of the DGP.
The message further said that a case would be filed if she did not pay the tax and that the money must be transferred before he returns from Delhi.
To ascertain whether the messages were sent by the DGP, the teacher called the state police headquarters and was informed that DGP Anil Kant had gone to New Delhi that day. Thus believing the messages to be genuine, she transferred the money to the account as demanded.
The number used to commit the fraud is in the name of an Assam native. The City Cyber police team has left for New Delhi for investigating the incident.
