Cyber fraudster impersonates Kollam police chief in WhatsApp scam, seeks ₹40,000 transfer

Kollam: Police have launched an investigation after a cyber fraudster attempted to dupe officers in Kollam district by impersonating District Police Chief Vishu Pratheep TK through a fake WhatsApp account.

According to officials, several personnel in Kollam Rural Police received messages last week from a number beginning with the international code +977. The account carried the chief’s photograph in uniform as its profile picture. In the chats, the impersonator asked for an urgent transfer of ₹40,000.

However, officers who were already aware of similar scams elsewhere in the state grew suspicious and alerted senior officials immediately. As a result, no money was lost in the attempt. The matter was then reported to the Social Media Monitoring Cell, which referred it to the Cyber Police Station.

A case has been registered under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 3(5) (crime committed with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by impersonation using electronic resources) of the Information Technology Act.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the fraudster directed the officers to transfer money to a bank account in Songate, New Delhi. Police are now tracing the account holder to check for possible connections to other cyber fraud cases.

Kerala has witnessed a spurt in such impersonation scams in recent years, where fraudsters pose as senior police officers, bureaucrats, politicians or business executives. In separate incidents, finance managers of two major firms in the state lost money after receiving fraudulent WhatsApp requests that appeared to come from their managing directors.