Bhubaneswar: Odisha Crime Branch Wednesday said that the hacking of OCAC CEO Manoj Kumar Patnaik’s WhatsApp number was carried out by a Nigerian gang.
Crime Branch Additional Director General of Police Sanjeeb Panda told reporters that a similar cyber scam took place in Delhi November 1, and that the main offender, Chimelum Emmanuel Aniwetalu alias Maurice Degri (33) , a Nigerian citizen, was apprehended.
The hacking of the OCAC CEO’s WhatsApp number was carried out by one of his closest associates, who also happens to be a Nigerian.
The fraudster, who is on Delhi Police’s ‘Most Wanted’ list, emailed fraudulent links to the victim’s WhatsApp account in order to obtain control of it. According to the senior cop, he was operating out of Delhi and Bangalore.
“Odisha police is in contact with Delhi and Bangalore counterparts to trace and nab the accused,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention that the fraudster allegedly accessed Patnaik’s WhatsApp phone and then conned five people of Rs 7 lakh from his contacts.
On the night of November 10, the OCAC CEO discovered that his WhatsApp number had been hacked when he got phone calls from friends and coworkers enquiring about his health. They informed him that they had received a text message from his phone number requesting money for a medical emergency. The following day, the victim filed a report with the Saheed Nagar police station.
Odisha Crime Branch filed a Suo Motu report and initiated an investigation to track down the fraudsters after learning of the allegations.