Fake tribal website set up, offence registered in Nashik

NASHIK: The cybercrime police in the city have registered an offence against an unidentified person for setting up a fake website — purportedly of the Tribal Development Commissionerate in Nashik — and placing recruitment advertisement on the same to cheat people.
On a complaint of a senior official from the Tribal Development Commissionerate, the cybercrime police have booked the unidentified person under sections 468 (forgery), 471 (using a forged document or electronic record as genuine) and other sections of the IPC and the Information Technology Act.
Devraj Borse, the senior PI of the cybercrime police station, said some unidentified person had set up the fake website online. The aim was to place advertisements on the website and make people pay money as examination fee for the posts. The police said the officials of the tribal commissionerate only came across the fake website on February 18. He said the site could have been online from even before that.
On the website — https://mahatribal.webs.com — the fraudster had advertised for filling the posts of junior engineer, civil engineer assistant, supervisor, lab assistant, peon etc. in places like Mumbai, Pune, Nashik, Jalgaon. The complainant also found that the examination fee mentioned on the website was Rs 500 for the general category and Rs 350 for the reserved categories.
The police said the website had a link for filling up the application form and a separate link for exam fee payment.
The complainant said on the website, the name and logo of the department were fake. He clarified that the commissionerate had not advertised for any post.
Borse said they are investigating the case. The website would also be removed from the internet. So far, no one has approached the police or the cybercrime police station to register a complaint saying that they have been cheated through the website.
Police officials said it is possible that since the amount of the examination fee is less, people have come forward to lodge complaints. However, the fraudster could have collected a huge amount of money if many people have fallen for the scam.