Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The WhatsApp account of public relations department additional director, GS Wadhwa was hacked by cyber criminals. The fraudsters are using his profile photo and identity to send messages to people in his contact list, asking for money transfers through Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Following the hacking incident, Wadhwa reportedly received calls from people across the state seeking clarification. He has appealed to the public not to transfer money in response to messages sent from his hacked account, stating that all such requests are fake. The matter has been reported to the cyber cell for investigation.
In another case, an 81-year-old retired Army officer Arun Kumar Singh Parmar, a resident of Kolar Road, was duped of Rs 1.5 lakh by a scammer posing as his former army friend.
The caller emotionally claimed that his cousin urgently required a heart operation and requested financial help. Trusting the caller, Parmar transferred the amount in three online transactions to a bank account linked to a woman allegedly introduced as a doctor. The Kolar police have registered a fraud case against an unidentified suspect.
Meanwhile, a 27-year-old woman, Bhavna Saini, also from Kolar Road area, lost Rs 1.55 lakh in a fake electricity bill payment scam. The fraudster posed as an electricity department employee and warned her that her power supply would be disconnected due to pending dues. She was asked to install a fake application named Madhya Pradesh Electricity Board Update.
On the pretext of assisting with a payment error, the scammer gained remote access to her phone and transferred money from her State Bank of India (SBI) account in three transactions.
