Cyber fraud: Mumbai Police suggests countermeasures against scammers targeting cops with their fake profiles

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 said.

The 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 said.

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Several 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 said.

The fake profiles often feature manipulated images and information, making it challenging for the average user to distinguish between legitimate and fraudulent accounts, he said.

Explaining 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 platforms.

Sharing 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 people.

In 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 scammer."

The 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 profile.

He further said, "Your vigilance is crucial in preventing such frauds. If you're in doubt, please contact me directly through known and trusted channels."

The scammers are possibly now using sophisticated techniques to defraud people.

Meanwhile, 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 picture.

He said, someone has created a fake account on Facebook using my identity. Be careful, if any friend request is sent.

When contacted, Rajkumar Kothmire told mid-day, "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 fraudsters."

In September 2023, The Mumbai Cyber Police had nabbed a 22-year-old 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 said.

He 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 list.

He recalled, in the same case a 16-year-old gang member was also detained, but he was released when his parents were summoned and instructed to participate with the investigation.

The 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.