Cyber fraudster dupes district judge of Rs 50,000 by impersonating Bombay HC judge

An official said that the Mumbai Police had registered an FIR under relevant provisions of the IPC and IT Act based on a complaint lodged by the high court's registrar.

Mumbai: A district judge from Maharashtra's Solapur was allegedly duped of Rs 50,000 by an unidentified person who used the photo of a judge from the Bombay High Court as a WhatsApp display picture (DP) to ask for the money, police said on Saturday.

The Mumbai Police on Friday registered a first information report (FIR) under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and IT Act based on a complaint lodged by the high court's registrar, an official said.

As per the complaint, the district judge received a WhatsApp message on Friday from a phone number with the photograph of a high court judge as the DP, he said.

He was acquainted with the HC judge, and the sender of the message asked for Rs 50,000, which he said he would return at the end of the day, the official said.

Without verifying anything further, the district judge transferred the sum but got suspicious when he got another message with more demands, he said.

The district judge then contacted the registrar's office at the high court and learnt that the judge whose photo was used had never asked for money, the official said.