Scammers target government officials
In a likely phishing attempt, over four employees of Kasaragod and Wayanad Collectorates received WhatsApp texts from accounts imitating their district Collectors and asking for urgent money transfers. After that, the numbers have been sent to the cyber police, according to the Collectorate officials.
Vietnam scammers behind the operation
The texts came from Vietnam based numbers but showed the profile pictures of concerned collectors, Inbasekar K in Kasaragod and D R Meghasree.
In one incident, the scammers also shared a Google Pay number, but the target didn't proceed. According to the official, "the employees who received the messages were saved simply because they recognised the Collector’s tone and style of communication."
Two employees from Wayanad received texts, all from different numbers from Vietnam. In the Kasaragod incident, Collector Inbasekar said a lot of employees received the phishing texts on WhatsApp. Two employees reported the incident. No employee lost the money.
Scammers used typical scripts
The scam used a similar script in the two districts. The first text read: Hello, how are you? Where are you currently? In the Wayanad incident, the first massage was sent around 4 pm, and in Kasaragod, around 5:30 pm. When the employee replied, a follow up text was sent: Very good. Please do something urgently. This shows that the scam followed the typical pitches used by scammers.
The numbers have been reported to the cyber police. According to Wayanad officials, "Once the messages were identified as fake, screenshots were immediately circulated across all internal WhatsApp groups." Cyber Unit has blocked both Vietnam-linked and Google Pay numbers.
What needs to be done?
Kasaragod Collector cautioned the public and staff to be careful when getting texts asking for money transfers. Coincidentally, in both the incidents, the texts were sent to staff employed in the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. In this pursuit, the scammers revealed the pressures under which booth-level employees are working.
According to cyber security experts, the fake identity scams are increasingly targeting top government officials. Scammers are exploiting hierarchical structures to trick officials into acting promptly. “Police have urged government employees and the public to avoid responding to unsolicited WhatsApp messages requesting money, verify communication through official phone numbers or email, and report suspicious messages immediately to cybercrime authorities,” the New Indian Express reported.