Odisha youth posing as Collector demands smartphones from retailer
Rourkela: Check twice before befriending strangers on social media as you can fall prey to online fraud through fake profiles. This was a cautionary message from Sundergarh Collector Nikhil Pavan Kalyan after screenshots of a chat history of a fake Facebook profile in his name trying to defraud people surfaced on the social media site.
The Collector also took to Facebook to report the matter with some snapshots of the conversation. The photos shared by the IAS officer shows that a fraudster in guise of Sundergarh Collector was trying to get expensive smartphones from the owner of a mobile phone and electronics shop .
Though it is yet to be ascertained whether the con man has already cheated other people with his tricks before, the account has been blocked.
“It seems someone made a fake profile of mine and trying to sell stuff, as per the info I got. Pl dont fall for it. I am attaching the link below so that you can unfriend and report too. Thanks for helping me out,” the Collector wrote in his FB post.
He further said, “Seems that someone already tried to misuse the profile for favours! Request everyone especially from Sundargarh, Rourkela and all other places, not to entertain any favours, monetary or otherwise. I don’t ask and will never ask. It is against my conscience.”
Speaking to mediapersons, the IAS officer said, “We are in public domain and active on social media as well. Some anti-socials do mischief by using our name and position on social media. Luckily, with the help of some friends, we were able to identify it within a short period of time. We identified it before any kind of damage. So I request everyone to be aware of such online frauds.”
Besides, police intervention has been sought to trace the accused.
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