The Cyber Crime Cell of Chinchwad Police is probing a case of online fraud in which various citizens including corporators received WhatsApp calls from a person pretending to be Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) Commissioner Rajesh Patil and financial help in the form Was asked of gift cards.
An FIR was registered in this regard by the IT department of PCMC late on Saturday night under relevant sections of the fraud, impersonation, forgery and Information Technology Act.
According to the FIR, several WhatsApp calls and messages were received by PCMC corporators and some citizens in Pimpri Chinchwad between 10 am on January 17 and 11 am on January 18. Calls were made from a contact number that had name and profile picture. Patil.
A cybercrime cell official said that the accused initially established contact with various people over chat messages and later sought financial help in the form of gift cards. Those who were contacted immediately informed the matter to the PCMC officials. The official said that so far three PCMC corporators and some citizens have received such calls.
The civic body has appealed to citizens not to respond to such fraudulent calls and report the same to the cyber cell.
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