Cyber Fraudsters Impersonate Maharashtra ACS Manisha Mhaiskar to Seek Money
The Maharashtra state nodal cyber police in Mumbai have registered an offence against unidentified fraudsters after several state home department officials received WhatsApp messages impersonating Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Manisha Mhaiskar seeking urgent financial assistance.
The scam came to light following a formal complaint lodged by Ananda Gore, a cell officer in the Home Department stationed at Mantralaya. According to the complaint, Gore received a message on August 12 from an international number that displayed Mhaiskar's name and profile photograph.
Believing the communication to be genuine at first, Gore responded to the text. The sender claimed to be occupied in a meeting and requested Gore to urgently transfer Rs 50,000 to a bank account registered under the name of Imran Khan, describing the recipient as an acquaintance.
Suspicion arose after Gore noticed that the message had originated from an Indonesian phone number. To ensure authenticity, he verified the request directly with Mhaiskar, who confirmed she had not sent any such messages.
Subsequent checks revealed that several other officials within the home department had received identical fraudulent messages soliciting money from foreign phone numbers using the senior bureaucrat's identity.
Police authorities have lodged a First Information Report (FIR) regarding the cyber fraud attempt and identity misuse, and an investigation is underway to track the perpetrators.
