BHUBANESWAR: A man woke up to numerous phone calls from friends and relatives inquiring about his father’s health on Wednesday.
After initial confusion, he learnt that a fake Facebook account was opened in his name and messages sent out on the social networking site requesting for money for medical emergency.
A fraudster had created the fake profile of the contractual State Government employee, gathered information about his contacts from his Facebook account and sent messages saying he was in urgent need for money.
The conman had asked the victim’s friends to lend Rs 7,000 each as his father was admitted to a hospital for heart disease.
“The fraudster used my snaps as display picture and cover photo on the fake Facebook profile. He uploaded many of my photos with my friends to make it appear like a genuine profile and shared his Unified Payments Interface (UPI) ID,” the victim told The New Indian Express.
After the victim posted an alert message, the fraudster deactivated the fake profile. “Many Government officials, relatives and friends are on my contact list. I am not sure if anyone transferred money,” he said. The victim will formally file a complaint with Nayapalli police.