Maharashtra: Youth Duped of Rs 62,000 via Fake Facebook Account Impersonating District Collector

A shocking cybercrime case has come to light in Amaravati 's Chandurbazar taluka, where a youth was duped of Rs 62,000 through a fake Facebook account impersonating District Collector Ashish Yerekar. The fraud came to light on Monday afternoon, while the fake account was still active. Upon realizing her son had been scammed, the youth’s mother rushed to Amravati city and was directed to Chandurbazar Police Station to lodge a formal complaint. The cyber fraudster created a bogus Facebook account using a photo of District Collector Ashish Yerekar sitting on a chair in his office. On June 22, the imposter began sending “Hi” messages to multiple users. Those who responded were led to believe they were speaking with the Collector.

The fraudster claimed to have a close friend named Santosh Kumar, a CRPF officer who had recently been transferred and was looking to sell his old furniture. “If you’re interested in buying it, I will ask him to get in touch with you,” the scammer wrote, also sharing a phone number labeled ‘Santosh Kumar.’

One of the recipients, a young man from a village in Chandurbazar taluka, replied to the message and expressed interest in purchasing the furniture. The fraudster then sent him a QR code for payment. Trusting the conversation, the youth transferred Rs 55,000 initially, followed by Rs 5,000 and Rs 2,000 amounting to a total loss of Rs 62,000.

The fraud was discovered later, prompting the youth's mother to visit the Cyber Police Station of the Rural Police on Monday. Authorities confirmed that a formal case would be registered at the Chandurbazar Police Station based on the complaint.