Men in khaki on FB new face of cyber conmen

At least two officers from Chennai police on Friday confirmed that their FB contacts were approached by conmen through chats for financial help. The contacts were asked to transfer money via GPay to a particular phone number.

Arul Santhosha Muthu, Assistant Commissioner, Madhavaram said his FB contacts were approached through chat by unknown fraudsters seeking money. “I have informed about this to the cybercrime cell,” he said.

Adyar Inspector Christian Jayasil too had a similar experience when his friends started calling him to know the emergency he was in. “They then explained that they received a message from me on FB chat requesting money,” he said. He also noted that at least five-six other police personnel he knew too had a similar experience in the last couple of days.

The fraudster had used the officer’s profile picture to create a similar account and then used his FB friends’ contacts to ask money, he observed. He too has informed the cyber cell about the development.

Sources said conmen could have targetted men in uniform hoping that it would be easy for police personnel to ‘collect’ money without being questioned.