After Kamrup DC, Barpeta DC falls prey to online fraudsters

With the spurt in the number of online frauds in the state of Assam, the Barpeta Deputy Commissioner has fallen prey to an unidentified online fraudster who has been demanding money from multiple people by impersonating him on Whatsapp.

Just a day earlier, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kamrup Metropolitan district of Assam, Pallav Gopal Jha, quipped how a fraudster tried to extract money from people by impersonating him on a Whatsapp account.

Using the same Modus Operandi as in the case of Kamrup DC, the fraudster impersonating Tej Prasad Bhusal, Barpeta DC was demanding money from people including officers of the district administration using the fake WhatsApp account.

The fraudsters created a fake WhatsApp profile of the Barpeta DC using his picture. The miscreants even messaged to several people from the fake number whilearnedlearnt to be 9044448730.

Speaking to India Today NE exclusively, the DC said, ‘’Actually, the account was not hacked. Some miscreants created a fake WhatsApp account using my profile picture and then started messaging officers of the administration asking them for some Amazon pay gift.’’

Meanwhile, DC Bhusal has filed an FIR and an investigation into the case is underway. In addition to the FIR, the screenshots of WhatsApp chats were also enclosed by the office of the DC.

Assam has been facing a spurt in the number of Cyber crime in the last few months. The latest targets being Asam state minister Bimal Borah, Kamrup DC, and now Barpeta DC.