Beware of fraud calls, messages seeking money in the name of judges: HC

MUMBAI: After politicians, police and government officials, now fraudsters are using the names of judges to seek money from gullible citizens.
The Bombay High Court on Tuesday cautioned people to be wary of any such calls or messages seeking money in the name of judges or other court officials. A notice posted on the website of the HC asked people to report any such fraudulent communication to the police.
The notice was issued after some lower court judges noticed frauds using photographs and names of high court judges as display pictures on WhatsApp and calling or sending messages or links to lower court judges asking for money.
The Mumbai Cyber police have, however, not received any complaint from people being duped in the name of a high court judge or a court officer. “So far, no complaint has been received by the cyber police, complaining about losing money to frauds impersonating any judicial officer or a court officer,” said an IPS officer in Mumbai.
“Looks like the high court has posted a notice to make people aware about the frauds, after some attempts to do so were brought to the notice of the administration,” the officer added.
Earlier, attempts have been made by fraudsters to impersonate senior officers, including Mumbai police commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and the Navi Mumbai police commissioner Milind Bharambe and some senior IPS officers who have earlier served as additional commissioners and joint commissioners.
The notice issued in the name of the Registrar General of the high court said, “Sometimes text messages or links are sent in the name of judicial officers, demanding money by using photographs and names of judges — both of the high court and the lower courts – as display pictures on WhatsApp to create an impression that the message has been sent by the judge.” The notice added that the high court administration is initiating action against such fraudsters and taking up the cases with the police.
Nodal officer of high court Rajendra Virkar said, “We have issued a public notice on Tuesday. We have appealed to people to report such cases to police and send a copy to us.”
Deputy commissioner of Police Zone 1, Pravin Mundhe said that two months ago, a case was registered at Azad Maidan police where money was demanded from a judge in Solapur by a person using a display picture of a high court judge on social media, but no arrests were made in the case.
Recently, the administration of the Supreme Court of India had lodged a complaint with the Delhi police after a fraudster posed on a social media platform as none other than Chief Justice of India Dhananjay Chandrachud and sought money for cab fare.