Teen held for impersonating senior IAS, IPS officers on Facebook to extort money

A 19-year-old from Rajasthan has been arrested by Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police for creating fake Facebook profiles of senior IAS and IPS officers to dupe people into sending him money.

The accused, Arbaz Khan, a resident of Bahadurpur Patti Meeran village in Alwar district, was caught after a senior bureaucrat filed a complaint on May 12, said an officer from the Hyderabad Cyber Crimes wing. The complaint alleged that someone had created a Facebook account using his name and photo, sent friend requests, and attempted to extort money from his contacts.

“Probe revealed that Khan had created multiple fake accounts, including one falsely identifying himself as a CRPF officer. He also sent misleading and inappropriate messages, damaging the reputations of several high-ranking officials. The accused used Facebook and WhatsApp to impersonate senior officers, targeting their colleagues and friends with fake display pictures and false identities,” said the officer, adding that he is also named in another case under investigation by Alwal police in Cyberabad.

Meanwhile, the Hyderabad police officials have advised people not to trust social media messages that claim to be from government officers, especially when money is requested. Victims of cyber fraud are urged to dial 1930 or visit cybercrime.gov.in for help.

Published - June 04, 2025 09:17 pm IST