Cybercrooks create fake Instagram account of Himachal governor, demand money in his name

The latest to fall victim to cybercriminals is Himachal Pradesh governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar who took to social media to announce that attempts were being made to extort money through a fake account created under his name.

State police officials said that cybercrooks created a fake Instagram account of the governor and demanded money in his name. The cyber cell of police got the account deactivated after placing a request to Facebook’s office in the United States and further investigation to track down the culprits is on.

Taking to Twitter, governor Arlekar asked people not to fall for the fraud. “It is noted that some miscreants are demanding money through fake social media accounts in my name. Please be aware and do not entertain such demands,” he wrote. Soon after, cyber cell officials swung into action.

Senior officials said that after receiving the information about the fake Instagram account of the governor on Sunday, investigators raised a complaint with Facebook USA and got the handle deactivated. “We are yet to receive any complaint of any major financial transaction being conducted by these cybercriminals so far,” said an officer.

Officials were trying to gather information about the IP address of the computer where this account was created or handled by the crooks.

Himachal Pradesh has witnessed a spurt in cybercrime of late. Last year, suspected cheats had allegedly impersonated senior leaders and bureaucrats such as the chief minister and the chief secretary to extract money on the pretext of a medical emergency. The cyber cell of the police have received more than 18,000 complaints of online crimes in the past five years in the state, and out of these more than 50 per cent are related to financial frauds, police officials said.

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