Fraudsters create fake WhatsApp accounts of two govt officers in Goa to seek money from people

Panaji, Apr 17 (PTI) Two top government officials in Goa, including the Chief Electoral Officer, have filed complaints alleging that some cyber fraudsters created their fake WhatsApp accounts to seek money from people, police said on Wednesday.
Goa's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Ramesh Verma and state Legislature Secretary Namrata Ulman filed separate complaints against unidentified accused for impersonating them, a senior police official said.
Verma filed the complaint with the cyber crime wing of the Goa police on Tuesday. while Ulman lodged it on Sunday, he said.
The complaint filed on behalf of Verma by Urmita Bhandari, the personal assistant to the CEO, says that unidentified accused created a WhatsApp account of Verma and approached the people in his contact list demanding financial help, he added.
The accused used Verma's photo as the display picture to show that it was his WhatsApp account, and sent messages introducing himself as the CEO, the official said.
Similar modus operandi was used in the case of Ulman, he said.
Police have filed two cases under the Information Technology Act against unknown accused.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)