JOIN USFraudsters created a fake email account in the name of the principal of a reputed college in the city and managed to get one of his friends donate Rs 25,000 in charity towards a four-month-old’s heart surgery.
The incident happened between June 5 and 10. The fraud came to light when Dr Vincent Lobo, principal of St Joseph’s College, received a phone call from his friend stating that he had donated Rs 25,000 following his email. A shocked Lobo asked his friend to forward him the email and learnt that it was a fake id created in his name.
The principal approached the Ashoknagar police and filed a complaint. The police have taken up a case of cheating under the appropriate sections of the IT Act.
In his complaint, Lobo stated that the fraudster had not only created an email misusing his name, but also sent it to his friends’ group requesting to donate Rs 84,000 for the heart surgery of a four-month-old baby named John Verghese.
The mail contained an SBI bank account number where donations could be made. While many ignored the mail, one of his friends walked straight into the trap.
The police are trying to track down the accused using the bank account details.