Bhubaneswar, 04 July (H.S.) : Senior Congress leader and Basudevpur MLA Ashok Kumar Das on Saturday alleged that he fell victim to a cyber fraud after his mobile phone and WhatsApp account were compromised, leading to fraudulent messages requesting money being sent to people in his contact list.

Speaking to reporters, Das said the incident occurred on Saturday morning while he was doing yoga at his residence. He received a call from an unidentified person who claimed to be associated with the delivery of Assembly-related documents.

According to the MLA, the caller said their staff was unable to locate his address and asked him to click on a link that would allegedly help them identify his exact location. The caller, who spoke in Hindi, claimed to be calling from Bhubaneswar.

Believing the request to be genuine, Das clicked on the link. Shortly afterwards, several of his contacts informed him that they had received WhatsApp messages from his number seeking financial assistance.

I was surprised when people started calling to ask why I needed money. I had not sent any such messages, Das said, adding that he immediately suspected his phone had been compromised.

The legislator subsequently approached the Cybercrime and Economic Offences Police Station in Bhubaneswar. Following a preliminary examination of his device, cybercrime officials reportedly found that his WhatsApp account had been hacked and temporarily taken over by cybercriminals.

Das said cyber experts helped him secure his device and regain access to his accounts. He also alleged that the malicious link shared by the caller may have enabled the attackers to access his personal data.

Recalling that he had previously faced a cyber fraud involving his bank account, Das said he had been cautious about online security but still became a victim of the latest scam.

He appealed to the public to remain vigilant against cyber fraud and advised people not to click on suspicious links or share sensitive information with unknown callers.

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda