Chikkamagaluru: Cybercriminals are increasingly using fake WhatsApp profiles and stolen photographs to impersonate senior government officials and trick unsuspecting victims into transferring money. A Food Department officer in Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru district lost ₹50,000 after believing that a WhatsApp message had come from the district collector.
The fraudster used the collector’s photo to present the WhatsApp display picture and approached the officer with a seemingly routine conversation before asking for money.
Message arrived while officer was travelling
According to the details of the incident, Food Department Deputy Director Yogananda was travelling by bus towards Nagamangala in Mandya district when he received a WhatsApp message from an unfamiliar number.
The profile picture on the WhatsApp account reportedly depicted the picture of the district collector.
The sender asked the officer how he was doing and where he was. Since the profile picture seemed to belong to his senior officer, Yogananda believed that the message had truly been sent by the collector.
The conversation then took an unexpected turn.
‘I am in a meeting; send money urgently’
The fake account said he was in a meeting and having problems with online banking.
The fraudster even told the officer he urgently needed ₹50,000 and promised that the money would be returned as soon as there was no banking problem.
Knowing that his senior officer was facing an urgent financial problem, the food department official transferred ₹50,000 to a bank account provided by the scammer.
The account was supposedly held in the name of Hemanna Gowda Guddanna Gowda.
The next step by the fraudster, however, raised suspicion
After receiving the first ₹50,000, the person allegedly sent another WhatsApp message asking the officer to transfer an additional ₹50,000.
The second request made Yogananda suspicious. Instead of sending more money, he reportedly contacted the district collector’s personal assistant to verify the request.
That was when the truth came out.
The collector had not sent the messages, and the WhatsApp account was allegedly a fake account created to impersonate the senior official.
Cybercrime complaint filed
After realizing that he was the victim of an impersonation scam, the officer contacted the cybercrime police and filed a complaint.
The incident illustrated the increasing use of information that is publicly available online (such as photographs of government officials) to produce fake profiles by cybercriminals.
The familiar name and picture can make victims lower their guard, especially when the impersonated person is a senior officer or someone in a position of authority.
Don’t trust a WhatsApp profile picture
But cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies have advised people not to assume that a WhatsApp account is genuine just by the picture of a familiar person.
A profile picture can easily be copied from social media or other publicly available sources and used on another account.
As such, messages containing phrases such as “I am in a meeting,” “my banking is not working,” “send money urgently” or “don’t call me” should be taken seriously.
Always verify before transferring money
The safest thing to do is to independently contact someone through a known phone number before sending any money.
If a senior officer, colleague, friend or relative suddenly asks for money through WhatsApp, the request should be verified through a direct phone call or another trusted communication channel.
People also need to avoid clicking on any suspicious links and sharing OTPs, passwords, banking details or UPI PINs with anyone.
The Chikkamagaluru incident is a reminder that even experienced government officials can become victims of sophisticated impersonation scams. A familiar picture or official-looking WhatsApp profile is not proof of identity.
