HYDERABAD: Nearly 2.73 lakh farmers received SMS alerts on Wednesday claiming that Rythu Bharosa (investment support scheme) amounts had been credited to their bank accounts. The Agriculture department, however, termed the messages a mischievous act and lodged a complaint with the cyber crime police.
According to the complaint lodged by Director of Agriculture B Gopi, fraudsters sent unauthorised SMS messages to approximately 2,73,100 farmers in the name of the Rythu Bharosa scheme. He clarified that the department had neither initiated nor authorised any such communication.
Gopi said the Agriculture department uses the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC) SMS Service Portal to send official messages to farmers, but had not initiated any SMS transmission on Wednesday. He warned that the incident raised the possibility of unauthorised access to or misuse of the department’s name and SMS communication channels.
The director asked the cyber crime police to investigate the source of the messages and identify the agency, individual or entity responsible for sending them. He also sought an examination of possible unauthorised access to or misuse of the CDAC portal or any other SMS gateway.
He requested the police to trace technical details, including the SMS gateway, sender ID, transmission logs and related IP addresses, wherever available.
“The matter is of serious concern, as such unauthorised messages may create confusion among farmers and adversely affect the credibility of the department and the Rythu Bharosa scheme,” he said in the complaint.