Cyber crook impersonates collector, dupes Anakapalle revenue officer of Rs 50K

Anakapalle: A cyber crook duped the revenue divisional officer of Anakapalli district to the tune of Rs. 50,000.

The police said RDO Chinni Krishnudu received a gift coupon through WhatsApp with the display picture of the Anakapalle district collector. The sender also sent a message in the name of the collector asking for money due to a shortage of funds to purchase a gift coupon from Amazon. He sent five links, each for Rs. 10,000.

“As the RDO was busy, he asked his personal assistant to send the money through WhatsApp,” said the inspector of Anakapalle town D. Mohan Rao.

The RDO later realized that he was duped by a cyber-criminal. He immediately lodged a complaint with the local police. Since the collector’s picture and name were involved, the police quickly responded and solved the crime.

They traced the criminal to Rishikesh in Uttarakhand state. He was identified as Nikhil Goyal. He was brought here and produced in the court and later sent to judicial remand for 14 days. The CI said they were searching for two more persons linked to this case.

The police said out of Rs. 50,000, Nikhil drew only Rs. 30,000 and the remaining amount was safe in the RDO’s account. The stolen money will be recovered in a day or two, the CI said.

Finding fault with the RDO, local revenue officials said the RDO should have inquired with the personal staff of the collector or informed the collector before paying the amount.