Stephen Ravindra latest victim of social media impersonation, fake FB account of Swati Lakra identified

HYDERABAD: Facebook fake profiles are rampant and have been happening to all subscribers for the last five years. In recent months several cases of fake accounts of a few famous people came to light.

According to Sanjeeva Reddy Nagar police, a businessman named B Venugopal Reddy, got in touch with IPS officer Stephen Ravindra’s fake FB account. During a conversation with the fake account-holder, Reddy was told that Santosh Kumar, an Assistant Commandant with the CRPF, who was recently transferred to Jammu and Kashmir, was selling furniture.

Believing that it was a legitimate transaction, Reddy contacted Santosh Kumar and paid Rs 47,000 via online payment mode. However, Santosh Kumar started demanding more money and was not sending the furniture as assured. Suspecting fraud, Venugopal Reddy made a complaint with the police.

SR Nagar police registered under sections 419, and 420 of the IPC, 66(C), and 66(D) of the IT Act and are investigating the case.

Similarly, two fake Facebook accounts surfaced in the name of ACB director C.V. Anand. Hyderabad cybercrime police registered a case when they found that another account in his name was being operated by someone else . The IPS officer grew suspicious after seeing a "hi, how are you" message, apparently from a fake account. Police said that hackers use such platforms to malign the reputation of a famous individual and demand money.

CV Anand told NewsTAP that the hacker’s location was found to be Rajasthan and the police were investigating the case.

Cyber fraudsters also created a fake Facebook account of senior IPS officer Swati Lakra. Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police said that the account that mimicked the profile of the officer had 138 friends. Police registered a case and are investigating.

Last month the official X (formerly Twitter) account of Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan was hacked. The Raj Bhavan identified that they could not open and operate the account and informed the same to the police. Police found out that some had changed the password of the Governor’s official account and it was compromised. However, the hackers did not post any content on the account.

BRS MLC Kalvakuntla Kavitha complained that her Instagram account was hacked. Hackers entered her site and uploaded an irrelevant video. At the same time, her X account was also compromised.