Kolkata: The logo of diversified conglomerate ITC Ltd as well as the name of its chairman Y C Deveshwar was used to open a fake website in an attempt to dupe people, police said on Friday. An investigation has been initiated into the matter, but police is yet to arrest anybody in this connection.
The matter came to light last month after the IT team of the company spotted the logo on a website named ‘ITC Holidays’, which also mentioned an incorrect email address of Deveshwar. “The fake website has used the logo of the company as ITC Holidays. It has also mentioned an incorrect email address and claimed it to be of our chairman Mr Deveshwar.
“We have lodged a complaint with the Kolkata Police cyber crime section and Shakespeare Sarani Police Station,” ITC Executive Vice President and Head, Corporate Communications, Nazeeb Arif, told PTI. The company has a very strong IT department to deal with such fraudulent attempts, he said.
Asked whether it could be the handiwork of a rival company, Arif said, “We cannot speculate about that but we are hopeful of proper action against the person or the persons making such attempts.” The fake website has also used the address of the company’s headquarters at J L Nehru Road in the city, as its contact details.
The website claimed of having tie-ups with several top hotels and hotel chains, which are in collaboration with ITC.
“It seems that the logo and the name of the director of the company have been used to make it look authentic and win confidence of the people,” Santunu Chattopadhyay, OC, Kolkata Police Cyber Crime, told PTI. Cyber sleuths are trying to spot the IP address to zero in on the miscreants, he said, adding, police is also looking into whether anybody has been duped.
