Bhubaneswar: Worried over the rise in cyber crimes in Odisha, with fraudsters impersonating senior officers online to raise funds from people, the state government has asked Netizens to exercise caution during all financial transactions.
The government issued a statement to say that cybercriminals are using photos of senior bureaucrats on WhatsApp and other messaging platforms on social media, asking people to pay bills.
“It has come to notice that a fake telephone number ‘9315641784′ is using the photo of Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra, and asking people to pay bills or remit some money,” the official statement said.
Earlier, similar messages were sent to people from a fake profile of Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary P K Jena.
According to police sources, Jena had filed a complaint, but the scammers were yet to be traced.
“The government want to inform people that there is no such mobile phone number for the chief secretary. The chief secretary never asks anyone to pay any bill or remit money to any account,” the statement issued Tuesday said.
Maintaining that the chief secretary would not be accountable for any transaction done on the basis of these fake messages, it also said, “All are requested to remain alert and careful about such messages. Anybody receiving any such message is requested to inform the cyber police station or the nearest police station.”
PTI