SRINAGAR: Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar on Wednesday advised the general public to remain cautious and follow precautionary measures to deal with fraudsters using fake WhatsApp display picture to impersonate as high profile government officers or dignitaries.
General public is advised to remain #cautious and follow #precautionary measures to deal with #fraudsters using fake #WhatsApp display picture to impersonate as high profile Government officers or dignitaries: IGP Kashmir@JmuKmrPolice pic.twitter.com/Xv4ZZn5FUf
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) June 22, 2022
IGP Kashmir in a advisory said that the fraudsters procure photo of the government officers from open source internet and create whatsapp account on virtual number or on fake SIM card.
According to advisory, they upload Government Officer’ photo as display picture on the whatsapp number and sends message to people demanding financial or administrative favours.
“They ask users to transfer money or purchase online gift vouchers. As part of the precautionary measures, people have been advised not to reply the messages received from unknown Whatsapp users, transfer money or purchase online gift vouchers or share banking details like Credit card/Debit Card , OTP, CW No. or any password,” it reads.
“The people have been advised against installing any remote access app or click on any suspicious link. They have been advised also to secure whatsapp account by enabling two factor verification available in whtasapp settings,” reads the advisory issued by police.