VIJAYAWADA: Health and Family Welfare Director Veerapandian asked District Medical & Health Officials (DM&HOs) to beware of cybercriminals deceiving people with fraudulent messages and fake links, claiming to offer benefits under the Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY).
Authorities have received multiple complaints about these scams, where fraudsters pose as health department representatives and lure victims with promises of financial aid. The criminals falsely claim that `70 lakh has been allocated for breastfeeding mothers and are targeting Anganwadi teachers to obtain beneficiaries’ phone numbers.
Initially, victims were contacted via keypad phones with offers of `15,000 under the government scheme. Later, WhatsApp calls displaying the profile picture of Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu were used to gain trust. The scammers misled victims into believing that `70,000 had been sanctioned for them but required a minimum balance of `3,000 in their bank accounts.
Victims were then asked to verify personal details and share their screens via WhatsApp, potentially exposing sensitive information to fraudsters.
Veerapandian has instructed all DM&HOs to alert ANMs in their districts, urging them to educate beneficiaries not to respond to such fraudulent messages and to report any suspicious activity immediately to higher officials.