Police in Nagaland on Wednesday stated that it has come to learn that fraudsters are impersonating political executives/senior government officials, including the Police of Nagaland, on WhatsApp and contacting officials or people known to them asking for assistance.
The Nagaland Police said that the modus operandi include registering in WhatsApp using fake SIM cards; photograph of the person impersonated as a WhatsApp profile picture; getting the names and phone numbers of potential victims from websites and other social media accounts (friends list) of the person impersonated; sharing the link of Amazon Pay Gift Cards to the victims asking them to purchase the same and send the cards or the claim codes to the fraudster; and the fraudster claim they are out of town, in a conference/meeting, or otherwise engaged and that is why they need you to make the purchase for them.
Nagaland Police then stated that it has been observed that fraudsters are impersonating people on other social media platforms especially Facebook using the same modus operandi with the motive of asking for financial assistance and trapping innocent victims. Nagaland Police reiterated that one should not give/make any financial transaction to other people without ascertaining their identity.