Cyber Fraud Attempt Using Judge’s Photo Foiled In Beed; Case Registered Against Unknown Person

Beed: A case of attempted cyber fraud using the name and photograph of a district judge has been registered at the Beed Cyber Police Station.

The accused allegedly created a fake WhatsApp account posing as Principal District and Sessions Judge Anand L. Yawalkar and tried to cheat court officials and lawyers.

The complaint was filed by court registrar Sunil Purushottam Zende. According to police, the incident came to light on May 21 when T.S. Kavade, superintendent at the Additional District Court in Majalgaon, received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number displaying the judge’s name and photo.

Kavade became suspicious and informed registrar Zende. The matter was then verified directly with Judge Yawalkar, who confirmed that the number did not belong to him. He later instructed officials to file a police complaint.

The next day, advocate Syed Ismail also received a message from the same number. The sender claimed to be attending an important meeting and urgently asked for Rs 50,000 to be transferred to a bank account.

The accused also shared details of a State Bank of India account reportedly belonging to a person identified as Kanhaiya Lal. However, the advocate verified the request before making any payment, preventing financial fraud.

Based on the complaint, police have registered a case against an unidentified person under Section 66© of the Information Technology Act.

Police Inspector Nilesh Eknathrao Kele is further investigating the case.