BENGALURU: Unidentified hackers created a fake email ID in the name of Takayuki Kitagawa, the Consul-General of Japan in Bengaluru, and cheated a person of `20,000 on the pretext of selling his car. A case has been registered at Vidhana Soudha police station based on a complaint filed by Mistsuhiro Amao, an official of the Consulate General of Japan in Bengaluru.
Police said the incident came to light on August 16 when a person went to the office to a have look at the car for which he had paid in advance. When the seller, who had asked him to meet at the Consul-General’s office on Cubbon Road, did not turn up and had switched his phone off, the buyer approached the staff at the office.
“According to the buyer, he came across a post about the sale of a Toyota Innova Crysta MUV for `14 lakh a few days ago. He contacted the person who claimed to be working in the office. He was given a bank account number to which `20,000 was paid. But when the buyer went to the office to see the car, he realised he was conned. The accused had used the name of Takayuki Kitagawa and created a fake email ID. The Consul-General asked the staff to file a formal complaint, which was registered on Monday,” police said.