Cyber fraudsters impersonated Mahima J Patel, the son of former chief minister J H Patel, and tried to borrow money from his friends.
The JD(U) state president, however, got wind of the matter in the nick of time and lodged a complaint with North CEN Crime police.
According to Mahima, some of his friends sent him screenshots of the messages they received on Facebook. Fraudsters had created a fake Facebook account in his name and used his picture. They sent friend requests to Mahima’s contacts and got their phone numbers.
Their next move was to send messages to Mahima’s contacts, asking for Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000 citing a medical emergency.
One of Mahima’s friends received a text message from an unknown number. The sender asked for Rs 10,000 and promised to return it by evening. Mahima’s friend insisted on talking to him over the phone to know what the emergency was. The impersonator replied that his friend’s son had met with a car accident and was in hospital. The friend then called up Mahima and discovered the impersonation.
The Facebook account has now been deleted but police are trying to trace the impostor through other means.
(Published 01 July 2021, 20:06 IST)
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