The police are investigating a fake WhatsApp account that was started in the name of the Tirupur Collector S Vineeth by using his picture.
Tirupur: Dr. S Vineeth has been the District Collector of Tirupur for the past year. Recently, it was discovered that text messages have been sent to Government officials at the Tirupur Collector's Office from a WhatsApp number that had the Collector’s photo, and in the name of Collector Vineeth.
The text messages read, “How are you in it? How is the work going?” Some Government officials reportedly responded to these questions. They were then asked for monetary information including bank details. The officers then became suspicious and brought the issue of the text messages to the attention of Collector Dr. S Vineeth.
It was then discovered later that the WhatsApp account that was started in the Collector's name, using his photo was an attempt to commit fraud. A complaint has been lodged with the Cyber Crime Police regarding the fraud attempt.
Earlier, when Vijayakarthikeyan was the District Collector of Tirupur, anonymous persons started a fake Facebook account in his name and demanded money from some people. Later, a complaint was lodged in this regard.
Commenting on the fraud attempt, Collector Dr. S Vineeth warned officials and the public stating, “They have started a fake WhatsApp account and sent text messages to many people. This has been reported to the police. When the cell phone number was first examined in the investigation, the cell phone tower was shown as in Rajasthan. The police are taking action to identify and penalize the anonymous fraudster. Government officials and the public can lodge a complaint with the police if they receive a text message in the Collector's name or using his photograph.”