Beware! Cyber criminals create fake Instagram account of Ullal police officer, demand money

Team Udayavani, Jan 18, 2023, 5:31 PM IST

Ullal: In yet another case of cybercrime, miscreants have created a fake Instagram account of the Ullal Police Station Inspector Sandeep and are demanding money from social media users.

The police officer alerted his followers about eh scam on his Facebook and Instagram accounts by sharing a conversation with the cyber scammers.

For the past two days, the police officer’s friends received messages from the fake account asking for money.  The scammers sent messages saying the officer was in urgent need of money and asked people to send Rs 7,500 urgently via online transfer.

The police officer warned people to beware of the scam and said he has never asked for money from friends on social media. He also requested people not to transfer money to anyone.

Of late, there has been a marked rise in the number of cases where cyber frauds created fake social media accounts of well-known personalities with malafide intentions. Recently, a fake social media account of the Mangaluru Police Commissioner was detected. The cyber cell of the police has received many complaints regarding such cases.

According to sources, hackers use these fake accounts to transfer money to the bank accounts of farmers in North India. They promise a small cut in the money received in the bank account. By the time police freeze the bank account, the fraudsters disappear with the money.