OCAC CEO Whatsapp account hacking: Nigerian National arrested

Bhubaneswar: On Wednesday, Crime Branch Additional Director General of Police Sanjeeb Panda told the media that a Nigerian national operating from Bengaluru hacked the WhatsApp number of Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC) CEO Manoj Kumar Patnaik.

Panda also claimed to be a friend of Chimelum Emmanuel Aniwetalu (33), alias Maurice Degri, a Nigerian national who was detained in Delhi on November 1 for a similar computer fraud.

"His associate is also on the 'Most Wanted' list of the Delhi Police. "Odisha Police is in communication with their colleagues in Delhi and Bangalore to track down and apprehend the culprits," he said.

The senior cop elaborated on the fraudsters' method of operation, saying that they obtain control of a WhatsApp account by sending infected links. "After that, they look for financial assistance from others on the contact list," he explained.

He advised consumers to avoid clicking on dangerous sites and to use WhatsApp's two-step authentication feature.

The scammer is said to have accessed Patnaik's WhatsApp phone and then defrauded five others in his contacts out of Rs 7 lakh.

When the OCAC CEO received calls from friends and colleagues inquiring about his health, he got a scent of it. They'd received a panic message from his phone number, asking for cash assistance for a'medical emergency.'

The next day, he filed a complaint with the Saheed Nagar police station.