‘Boss scam’ hits Chennai; Mayor becomes target

CHENNAI: Chennai Mayor, R Priya has become the latest target of scamsters who used her photograph as display picture on Whatsapp and sent messages to her subordinates asking them to buy an Amazon gift voucher to send her.

According to a complaint given to Periamet police from the Mayor’s office, messages were sent to zonal officers of Ambattur (zone 7), Kodambakkam (zone 10), Adyar (zone 13) and Sholinganallur (zone 15) through Whatsapp from mobile number 8318639345 with the mayor’s photo as the display picture.

After exchanging pleasantries and enquiring about their whereabouts, the scamster sent a message asking them to get amazon gift cards, as the ‘mayor’ was in a crucial meeting.

The officials cross checked with the Mayor’s office and learnt that no such messages were sent after which a complaint was preferred with the Periamet police. Only recently, the city police had issued a statement warning public, especially those working in the government, not to fall prey to such messages from unknown persons.

Some of the district collectors across the state have already made complaints to the police after their staff received similar messages claiming to be them. A month ago, impostors used Thiruvallur district collector Alby John's photograph and sent messages to the collectorate staff. Pudukottai district collector Kavitha Ramu had an even more bizarre experience as the scamsters sent a message to her official number trying to con her.

What is a Boss Scam?

• Online shopping giant, Amazon terms this a 'Boss Scam' wherein you receive an unexpected/unsolicited email or text message from your boss or a leader in an organization asking that you purchase amazon pay gift cards and send the cards or the claim codes to that person.

• According to Amazon, the scammer may claim they are out of town, in a conference call, or otherwise engaged and that is why they need you to make the purchase for them.

• A cybercrime official said that government officials are an easy target for 'boss scam' as the photographs of district collectors and important officials and phone numbers of all officials in a district are easily available online.