The Maharashtra Police Cyber Cell has booked several persons who attempted to misuse the official “PM’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund” (PM CARES Fund) by floating fake ids on social media, an official said here on Saturday.
They are among 78 persons who have been booked for various cyber crimes including attempting to spread communal hatred in the name of Covid-19, giving a religious tone to Coronavirus and misguiding people on the PM CARES Fund.
Against the official “pmcares@sbi”, some scamsters floated fraudulent ids like pmcarefund@sbi, pm.care@sbi, pmcare@sbi, pncare@sbi ,pncares@sbi pmcares@pnb, intended to misguide the common masses donating to the official fund.
“We request all people to note down the official id (pmcares@sbi) and make their donations only through that id, and beware of all other fake ids,” said an official.
Keeping an eagle eye on the goings-on on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, WhatsApp, etc, the Cyber sleuths have booked other persons for spreading misinformation on the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, posting fake videos, messages, information, on social media.
They include Nashik 9, Mumbai 8, Pune 7, Satara 6, Beed 5, Thane, Nagpur, Kolhapur 4 each, Gondiya, Bhandara, Jalgaon 3 each, Solapur, Sindhudurg 2 each.
Additionally, the Mumbai Cyber Police have booked two youths for spreading malicious content intended to give communal overtones to the Covid-19 pandemic and averted a potential law and order problem in the densely populated country’s commercial capital.
Some others in Nashik’s Malegaon have been booked for trying to give a religious tint to the Coronavirus pandemic which could have sparked off disturbances in this minority-dominated town.
The State Cyber Police appealed to people not to post such fake content on social media which the sleuths are monitoring closely and strict action would be taken against defaulters.-IANS News
