Kolkata, March 13 (IANS) Kolkata Police on Friday issued an advisory cautioning people about possible online forgery, taking advantage of the West Asia situation and the likely impact on gas supplies.

A senior officer from the cybercrime division of the city police said that already some cases have been reported about citizens receiving doubtful phone calls, SMS, or WhatsApp messages on this count.

In such cases, the fraudsters are contacting the LPG customers by pretending to be Central government officials. Over the phone, they claim that the government was surveying gas usage. Then, the consumer concerned is told that he or she has booked gas within 25 days of the date of the previous booking, which is against the rules. The consumer is also told that he or she will be punished for that violation,” the officer said.

According to him, any consumer who succumbs to fear and seeks advice to come out of the purported menace is then advised by a fraudster to click a link and fill out an online form.

“As soon as the consumer concerned clicks on the link sent to him, the fraudster gets control over the entire mobile data of the consumer concerned. The next step is withdrawing money from their bank accounts,” the cybercrime division official said.

According to him, there is yet another way that the fraudsters are trying to trap vulnerable consumers. “In this case, the consumer concerned is told that he or she has been enlisted through a lottery to get the LPG cylinder supplied at his or her doorstep within two days from the date of booking. The consumer lured by that bogus offer is then asked to fill out a form through a link sent to him or on WhatsApp,” he added.

He said that anyone receiving such a mysterious call or message should totally ignore them and immediately report to the local police station.

“Under no circumstances should anyone click on unknown links and share personal or banking information. Cyber branches of various police stations in the city have already been alerted, and the general public has also been advised to be aware,” the official added.

–IANS

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