Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi Targeted by Cyber Fraudsters 

Surat : Harsh Sanghavi, Gujarat’s home minister, has not been spared by cyber hackers. While the Gujarat police have made bold statements about apprehending cybercriminals involved in fraud, cybercriminals in Surat set up a fake Facebook account in the name of Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Sanghavi. 

The Gujarat Home Minister has now issued an appeal on his official Facebook and Instagram profiles, as well as other social media channels, urging the public to report any message or request made from the fake FB account to the nearest police station. 

It should be mentioned that cyber thugs have constructed a fake Facebook ID in the name of the Surat Police Commissioner and other notable Surat residents. Cyber criminals are making friend requests to people in Surat and throughout Gujarat using the names of important people. They (cyber criminals) are also requesting that money be deposited into their accounts for charitable purposes. 

Fake profiles of well-known celebrities, prominent persons, and businessmen on social media platforms are a major issue. There could be several motives for creating such a phony account. These can range from pure-play parody accounts to accounts designed to cause mischief, crime, or financial fraud. Some such accounts are set up by admirers of popular personalities. In addition to utilising a popular personality’s image as their profile photo, some false accounts morph their own image into the celebrity/politician’s image in order to claim proximity and favour.

Previously, it was revealed that Vadodara district BJP president Satish Patel’s fake  Facebook account was created and it was used to solicit money from people. Satish Patel provided information about this subject via social media.Satish Patel urged people to disregard such fake accounts and avoid supporting such people. The fake Facebook account of Vadodara district BJP president Satish Patel caused a controversy in Vadodara. Satish Patel accessed his account with his mobile phone. Satish Patel went to Karajan Police Station as soon as he learned of the situation and filed a complaint. The police examined the case on an application by district BJP president Satish Patel.

When people’s lives were put on hold owing to the Covid-19-induced lockdown, online transactions increased dramatically, giving scammers a greater opportunity to harm more individuals.

In 2020, the Gujarat state cyber cell helpline received 23,055 calls from cyber fraud victims who had lost around Rs 87,65,34,496 crores. Investigators were able to freeze Rs 10, 27, 51,800 crores from it.

In 2021, the helpline got 14,170 calls in the last seven months, with a total of Rs 67, 61, 43,585 crores swindled from the victims’ bank accounts. The investigation team successfully froze Rs 11, 85, 29, 252.

From January 2020 to July 2021, the Gujarat police received 37,225 phone calls, 85% of which were from victims of cyber fraud. The criminals defrauded people out of Rs 155,26,78,081. The cops were able to freeze Rs 22,12,81,052. These were reported cases; the number may be greater because many cases go unreported.