Bengaluru: Cybercrooks created a fake Facebook account in the name of city police commissioner B Dayananda recently and sent friend requests to different people, asking for financial help, citing an emergency.
However, none of the recipients responded to the messages and lost money to the fraudsters, who created the account with profile name ‘Dayanand Bannikal’ in Hindi. This is not the first time a fake social media account has been created in the name of Dayananda. Fraudsters download his images from the Internet, use them as profile and background photos, and create fake profiles. In Oct 2024, a similar fake profile was created.
Similar fake profiles in the names of other IPS officers, including the previous DG and IGP, police commissioners, and retired IPS officers, seeking financial help have been reported in the past.
Speaking to TOI, Dayananda said that he brought the fake profile to the notice of cybercrime police, who are probing the issue. He urged people not to respond to any Facebook or WhatsApp messages seeking financial help. If they get such messages, they should bring it to his notice over the phone or report to the nearest police station.
A senior police officer said people should restrain from accepting friend requests from fake profiles. If they do accept the request without knowing it is a fake account, they should not respond to messages seeking financial help. Before sending the money, they should contact the respective officer and cross-check, he said.