Mumbai: At least eight people lost Rs 49,000 each after fraudsters hacked into Shiv Sena national spokesperson and fashion designer Shaina NC’s WhatsApp account on Thursday and sought financial assistance. The fraudsters sent messages saying, “Need some help’’, asking for money and promising to return it in two hours.Speaking to TOI, Shaina said some of the transfers could have been stopped had the police acted on time. The hacking was reported at 1. 58 pm, but the police did not act swiftly. The hackers were having a live conversation with my contacts who transferred the money up to 6 pm. Shaina said that it was really unfortunate that the police didn’t act swiftly. “It was a cyber crime. Every minute matters. If this is happening to me, imagine what a common man must be going through when they approach the police.’’ Shaina said she took up the lax attitude of the police with the seniors. One of the victims told TOI that she did not suspect anything amiss since Shaina was a family friend.According to Shaina NC, her team promptly informed the police and requested that the GPay account of the hacker be blocked. However, she expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in the process, alleging that additional transactions took place while the police were tracing the account and initiating action.On the same day, the mobile number of a senior journalist was also allegedly compromised. The hackers reportedly approached the journalist’s contacts seeking Rs 45,000 and shared the same UPI ID earlier sent to Shaina NC’s contacts, indicating a possible link between the two cases.
