KOCHI: After impersonating the chief minister, top police officers and other prominent personalities, fraudsters are now soliciting money from unsuspecting victims by posing as A J Desai, the former Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court.
The Kochi city police have launched an investigation on a complaint received on Saturday alleging that miscreants had created a fake Instagram account of Justice Desai and were soliciting money in his name.
As per the FIR, unidentified culprits set up an Instagram page under Desai’s name shortly after he retired from the HC on July 4. On August 13, between 2.38pm and 3.17 pm, they messaged Krishnaraj K and Vishnu Thampi, the PA and escort assistant, respectively, of the ex-CJ, requesting money.
Krishnaraj then filed a complaint with the Registrar General of the HC, which was forwarded to the Kochi city police commissioner.
Police officers said a case has been registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (impersonation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as Sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using a computer resource) of the IT Act. They termed the incident a part of a concerning trend where fraudsters create fake profiles of senior government officials or celebrities to deceive people into giving them money.
Earlier this year, the Ernakulam Central Police charged a Rajasthan native who allegedly created a fake WhatsApp link in the name of CM Pinarayi Vijayan and circulated it on social media. In August 2022, the Kochi cyber police also registered a case against an unidentified person who created a fake WhatsApp account in the CM’s name and sent a message to an IPS officer requesting money.
Cyber criminals have similarly targeted several bureaucrats and top officials in the state. Two from UP were arrested for creating a fake social media account in the name of then-ADGP Vijay Sakhare and seeking money from his friends on Facebook.
The police said people can report such scams by calling the Cyber Crime toll-free helpline at 1930 or visiting www.cybercrime.gov.in