Mumbai Police suggests countermeasures against scammers targeting cops

In a concerning cyber crime online scammers seem to have set their sights on police officials creating a wave of fake social media profiles impersonating law enforcement officers Recent incidents have led the Mumbai Police to be extra vigilant after fake profiles using pictures of prominent police officials were discovered on Facebook sources saidThe alarming trend has prompted a swift response from the police who are now actively working to curb the spread of misinformation and potential fraudulent activities they saidSeveral incidents have come to light in the recent past where individuals allegedly with malicious intent have attempted to deceive the public by posing as police personnel on social media platforms primarily Facebook an official saidThe fake profiles often feature manipulated images and information making it challenging for the average user to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent accounts he saidExplaining the scam a Mumbai Police official said the scammers use profile pictures of known cops and later create a fake profile on social media using their identity The fraudsters then send friend requests to people and ask for money showing urgency The friend requests are sent to the people from their friend list however this becomes difficult for such scammers when a profile is locked and inaccessible to unknown people on social media platformsSharing a recent matter another police official said that a senior Maharashtra Police official an IPS had in December 2023 alerted his friends and colleagues that a fake Facebook profile was created by someone His picture was used as a profile pic to make it look legitimate enough to con peopleIn a message posted on a social media platform the IPS officer wrote Hello Friends I want to urgently inform you that a FAKE Facebook Profile has been created using my identity Please be aware that I have not sent any new friend requests recently If you receive any such requests or messages it is likely from a scammerThe officer also shared some key points to remember as part of his awareness initiative to the people He said Do not accept any new friend requests from me without verifying first Ignore and report any suspicious activities linked to my name Do not engage or share personal information with any requests coming from the fake profileHe further said Your vigilance is crucial in preventing such frauds If yoursquore in doubt please contact me directly through known and trusted channelsThe scammers are possibly now using sophisticated techniques to defraud peopleMeanwhile in a similar incident A senior cop with Navi Mumbai Police on January 6 shared a message with all his contacts after coming across a fake facebook profile with his pictureHe said someone has created a fake account on Facebook using my identity Be careful if any friend request is sentWhen contacted Rajkumar Kothmire told midday I had appealed to the people to be careful so that people do not fall victim to scammers I request everyone to take note of the fake Facebook profile created using my identity and avoid requests from any fraudstersIn September 2023 The Mumbai Cyber Police had nabbed a 22yearold man from Alwar in Rajasthan for reportedly supplying gadgets to internet gangs involved in building false social media profiles of top IPS officers and targeting their contacts in order to steal money an official saidHe said the arrest was made in response to a complaint filed in August 2022 in which Mumbai Police Commissioner and a few other IPS and IAS officers social media DPs were allegedly used to steal money from people in their friends listHe recalled in the same case a 16yearold gang member was also detained but he was released when his parents were summoned and instructed to participate with the investigationThe official said that the gang would send messages to the officers friends asking for money after informing them that they are in distress and stuck at some place he would also commit that the money would be returned back soon