Hyderabad: Commissioner and director of municipal administration, Dr TK Sreedevi, has become a victim of an impersonation scam which had fraudsters using her photo as the display picture for a WhatsApp number and requesting money from people. Based on a complaint lodged by P Sridhar, joint director in the office of the commissioner & director of municipal administration (CDMA), Telangana, the Cyber Crime Wing of Hyderabad Police registered a case.
According to the complaint, the fraudsters contacted several individuals through WhatsApp using the senior IAS officer’s photo as the display picture and solicited money under false pretences.
The matter came to light when officials in the CDMA office received screenshots of the suspicious messages sent to various contacts. The messages falsely claimed to be from Dr Sreedevi and requested monetary transfers.
Dr Sreedevi’s office formally submitted screenshots and other relevant material as evidence to the deputy commissioner of police, Cyber Crime Wing, Basheerbagh. In the letter, the department urged immediate action to trace the source of the fraudulent number (+94723718460), identify the accused, and initiate appropriate legal proceedings. Cyber Crime officials took up the investigation and are in the process of examining digital evidence.