Dimapur, May 17 (MExN): In light of rising online scams and fraudsters operating across social media platforms, the Nagaland Police has once again put out an advisory asking the public to be wary of such scams.
This was updated through their social media handles on May 17. “It has come to the notice of Nagaland Police that fraudsters are impersonating the Political Executives/Senior Government Officials including police of Nagaland in WhatsApp and contacting officials or people known to them asking for assistance,” the advisory read.
The update described the modus operandi of the fraudsters/scammers which work as such- 'Register in WhatsApp using black/fake SIM cards, use the photograph of the person impersonated as WhatsApp profile picture. Get the name and phone number of potential victims from websites and other social media accounts (friends list) of person impersonated.
Share 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.' The fraudsters claim they are out of town, in a conference or meeting, or otherwise engaged and that is why they need you to make the purchase for them, according to the advisory.
Further, the update also mentioned, “it has been observed that fraudsters are impersonating people in other social media platforms especially Facebook, using the same modus operandi with the motive of asking financial assistance and defrauding innocent victims.”
Therefore, Nagaland Police has reiterated that one should not give or make any financial transaction to other people without ascertaining their identity.
