The office of Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu issued a statement on Saturday cautioning the general public about a person impersonating him to seek money through WhatsApp.
"A person impersonating Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu, is sending WhatsApp messages soliciting help and financial assistance from the mobile telephone number 9439073183," the statement said. The issue came to light when the impersonator sent out messages to MPs and ministers. The Vice-President's Secretariat has informed the Home Ministry about the development.
Recently, Kerala Speaker M.B. Rajesh too had fallen victim to such a scam. The impersonator put up Mr. Rajesh's picture as his display picture and sent out messages to many Kerala MLAs and former ministers asking them to save his "new number". Once the targeted person responded, the impersonator started asking for money. The Kerala Police is investigating the case.
