Chandigarh: Online Fraudster attempts Amazon gift voucher scam using profile of GMCH's Director

Chandigarh: The rising case of cybercrime took another turn when a man posing as the director-principal of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32, Dr Jasbinder Kaur started seeking Amazon gift cards from hospital staff through WhatsApp.   

WhatsApp being the World's most popular and used app has been subject to being used for passing many fraud information to people. The fraudster began asking for Amazon gift cards from 32 hospital staff members of the hospital.

The accused used the director's image as the profile picture to execute the crime and asked 32 hospital staff for 10 Amazon e-vouchers worth around Rs 10,000 each in a single WhatsApp text. The accused made an excuse for an emergency situation and tried to take the gift cards for the past two days but failed.

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While talking with HT, Dr Kaur said " the imposter could not succeed as we have already alerted all faculty and staff members not to respond to such messages."

Later the director filed a complaint against the accused alleging that this is not the first time it has happened. Earlier the director tried to take action but the police were uncooperative with the incident and did not bother to file an FIR.

Meanwhile, the director demanded strict action against the accused from the police and disclosed the WhatsApp number of the accused.

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However, for the past month around 5 similar cases were registered by the cybercrime investigation cell (CCIC) of Chandigarh Police indicating that this is not the first time it has happened.

A similar case that took place five days ago where a fraudster used UT Director General of Police (DGP) Praveer Ranjan's identity to seek Amazon gift cards from his acquaintances through WhatsApp went viral.