File photo of Pratibha Singh (ETV Bharat)
New Delhi: The phone of Pratibha Singh, former president of the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC), was hacked, with fraudsters allegedly seeking money by impersonating her.
Her son and state minister for PWD, Youth Services and Sports and Urban Development Vikramaditya Singh appealed to people not to respond to any message or call in which his mother’s name or identity is used to seek money.
An individual who received one such message on WhatsApp said, “It is always a matter of honour if you get a call or a text message from powers that be, especially from your home state. So, when I got a notification this afternoon, I was all smiles. There was a message from former Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee president Pratibha Singh. Her number is saved in my phone as Pratibha Singh Mandi as she has represented this parliamentary constituency in the past”.
Screenshot of the WhatsApp conversation (ETV Bharat)
“Hello!” the text said.
“Hi,” I replied.
“Ak chhoti si help chahiye (I need a small favour),” the next message said.
“Please tell me,” I responded politely.
“Mera upi nahin kam kar raha hai mujhe kuchh paise ka argent jarurat hai morning Tak refund kar dungi (My UPI is not working. I need some money urgently. I’ll return it by tomorrow morning),” the third message said.
The receiver of the message said, “I lost no time in figuring out that it was a fraud because the wife of the late six-time chief minister of Himachal Pradesh, Virbhadra Singh, won’t seek money from a poor guy like me”. He said there was panic at his home. “My wife and daughter started telling me not to continue the chat. They were worried about the little money I have in my bank account. My daughter has got the fastest fingers and she blocked Pratibha’s number,” he said.
The receiver said, “To probe deeper, I called another former HPCC president Kuldeep Rathore, who was clueless. But he phoned Pratibha’s son Vikramaditya Singh, who is Minister of Public Works (PWD), Youth Services & Sports, and Urban Development in the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu government. Vikramaditya confirmed that his mother’s phone has been hacked”.
In a Facebook post, Vikramaditya wrote, “My mother’s phone has been hacked. Someone has been demanding money using her name or phone number. Please don’t respond to any such message or call. The matter has been reported to the officers concerned in the cyber cell.”
Also Read
APK Spam Hits Telangana: Cybercriminals Hack Hundreds Of WhatsApp Groups
Click Here For The Original Source.
