Kolkata, 03 November (H.S.). Kolkata Police have opened an investigation after cyber fraudsters allegedly created a fake social media profile using the name and photograph of former West Bengal minister and former Chief Secretary Manish Gupta, officials said on Monday.

According to police, the accused created a fake Facebook account with Gupta’s image, and also used his photograph as the display picture of a WhatsApp number from which messages were sent to several of his acquaintances.

Investigators said that the fraudsters contacted people in Gupta’s network, claiming that money was urgently required for an important purpose.

“Seeing his name and photo, some of the recipients assumed the messages were genuine and transferred funds to the bank accounts provided by the fraudsters,” a police officer said.

After being alerted to the situation, Gupta cautioned his contacts and later lodged a formal complaint at the Cyber Police Station in Lalbazar.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the perpetrators may be operating from another state and could be part of a larger cybercrime network targeting well-known individuals by cloning their identities online.

Police are currently working to trace the mobile number and bank accounts used in the fraudulent activity, the officer added.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh