Vadodara: Senior Congress leader Narendra Rawat on Friday filed a complaint against an unidentified person who made a fake account on Facebook in his name and added his friends too. BJP MLA Seema Mohile too filed a similar complaint with the police a month ago.
“The imposter began contacting my friends through Facebook messenger chat asking for money. He sent messages to my friends stating urgent need of money. He sought Rs 10,000 or more from everybody promising to return the amount,” Rawat told TOI. The accused also sent a mobile number and demanded money transfer through online payment apps.
Rawat aleged that about 25 to 30 of his friends had been contacted over the last few days. The fake account has a similar profile picture as the original leading many to believe in the fake message. “I have urged the cyber crime cell to investigate the case and act quickly,” Rawat said, adding that the police have told him that the accused may be from the state or even from outside.
“A gang of cyberfrauds seems to be targeting well-known citizens and politicians in the city. We have written to Facebook authorities seeking details of the account and the IP address from which the account was made. We will be able to trace the accused once we get their phone numbers or IP address,” said Jaydeepsinh Jadeja, DCP (crime).
The police said that it has been getting many such complaints since a few weeks and some senior cops too have been victims of such fraud.
On October 5, BJP MLA Seema Mohile had written to the cyber crime cell after she learnt several fake accounts were being made in her name and were enlisting her friends online. Fake profile of another BJP MLA Manisha Vakil’s husband was also created, police said.
The gang impersonates well-known person seeking financial assistance and once gets the money, the frauds close the social media account before disappearing.