Cyber fraudsters impersonate Hyderabad police chief in unknown WhatsApp calls

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad police have issued an alert after several complaints of people receiving suspicious WhatsApp calls from numbers displaying city Police Commissioner CV Anand's profile picture.

Notably, all these suspicious calls, which were made to the city residents on Friday, originated from numbers with Pakistan's dialing code ( 92), These phone calls have raised security concerns among citizens. The fraudsters are reportedly attempting to create panic by impersonating senior police officials.

"This is a new modus operandi where cybercriminals are making WhatsApp calls using photographs of police officers. Citizens should remain vigilant and not respond to such calls," Commissioner Anand said in a statement.

The police chief said that genuine Indian phone numbers always begin with the country code 91. He added that some citizens reported the matter to the cybercrime wing which has launched an investigation into the case. They have advised the citizens to report any suspicious calls to the cybercrime helpline 1930 or contact the police control room at 100 or 112.