A District Judge in Maharashtra was scammed out of Rs 50,000 by fraudsters who used the WhatsApp display picture (DP) of a Bombay High Court Judge. This sophisticated scam occurred in Solapur, Maharashtra, where the unsuspecting District Judge was tricked into believing he was communicating with a colleague from the Bombay High Court
MAHARASHTRA: Recently, in a case of cyber fraud, a District Judge in Maharashtra was scammed out of Rs 50,000 by fraudsters using the WhatsApp display picture (DP) of a Bombay High Court Judge. The scam unfolded in Solapur, Maharashtra, where the unsuspecting District judge was deceived into believing he was in communication with a colleague from the Bombay High Court.
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The cybercriminals employed a cunning tactic by sending a message from a WhatsApp number, complete with the profile photo of a Bombay High Court Judge. The message requested a transfer of Rs 50,000, with a promise to return the amount by the evening.
Trusting the authenticity of the WhatsApp DP, the District Judge promptly transferred the funds.
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The scam came to light only when the fraudsters made a subsequent request for more money. Sensing something amiss, the District Judge reached out to the registrar of the High Court, only to discover that no such request for money had been made by the judge whose photo was misused.
Upon realizing the deception, the district judge filed a complaint with the cyber police.
An official reported that on Friday, the Mumbai Police registered a first information report (FIR) under pertinent provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the IT Act, following a complaint filed by the High Court’s registrar.
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Identity theft and cheating by personation: Section 66C of the IT Act prescribes punishment for identity theft and provides that anyone who fraudulently or dishonestly makes use of the electronic signature, password or any other unique identification feature of any other person shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 3 (three) years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to Rs. 1,00,000 (Rupees one lac).
Section 66D of the IT Act prescribes punishment for ‘cheating by personation by using computer resource’ and provides that any person who by means of any communication device or computer resource cheats by personation, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 3 (three) years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to Rs. 1,00,000 (Rupees one lac).
Section 419 of the IPC also prescribes punishment for ‘cheating by personation’ and provides that any person who cheats by personation shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to 3 (three) years or with a fine or with both.
A person is said to be guilty of ‘cheating by personation’ if such person cheats by pretending to be some other person, or by knowingly substituting one person for another, or representing that he or any other person is a person other than he or such other person really is.
An investigation is currently underway to trace and apprehend the perpetrators behind this scam. Authorities are also working to raise awareness about such fraudulent activities to prevent future incidents.
