Even as the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the world to a standstill, cyber crimes continue to rise at an alarming rate.
From ordinary citizen to high-profile politicians, nobody seems to be safe as the cyber criminals are not sparing anyone.
Recently, the scamsters tried to cheat people in the guise of Odisha School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash. They created a fake profile on Facebook in the name of the Minister and sought money from people.
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Informing his followers about the fraud, the Minister wrote, “Someone opened a fake account on Facebook in my name and is asking others for money.” He urged people to ignore such messages.
Dash shared some snapshots containing chats of the conman with a user. In the chat, the scamster was seen asking for Rs 10,000 from the person in the name of the minister.
“I want some money urgently. I will return tomorrow,” the fraudster wrote in the chat. The conman further asked the person whether he was using Phonepay and send Rs 10,000.
Speaking to OTV over phone, Dash said, “I learnt about the fraud when the conman sought money from my Facebook friends through Facebook messenger and they asked me about it. Earlier, I had lodged a complaint with the Commissionerate Police. Now I have those from whom the conman has sought money to lodge a complaint at Nimapara police station.”
The Minister further said he had earlier noticed similar fraud in his Twitter account and demanded stringent action against the scamsters.
Meanwhile, cyber experts have advised people to make calls and confirm with the concerned person before sending money to avoid such frauds.
Cyber expert Prasanta Sahu said, “Do not send anything if the user is seeking money using Facebook or WhatsApp. You can also ask the concerned person and confirm whether he actually sought the money."