A fake website claiming to be the website of Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) was found to have posted a job notification for trainee engineer and diploma trainee posts. The cybercriminals created a fake website with an altered domain – www.visakhapatnamport.com, duplicating the official website of the VPT.
According to sources, the incident came to light after the VPT officials started receiving calls about the application and selection process. Alerted by the enquiries, the officials at the Visakhapatnam Port Trust lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime police of Vizag about the fake website purported in the name of VPT.
The miscreants created posted a job notification on the fake website of Visakhapatnam Port Trust for 2,250 posts and collected Rs 1,200 as application fee from each of the aspirants. The basic salary for one of the fake posts was 80,000. The last date for application on the fake website was listed as 4 October and the exam date was announced to be held on 25 October.
The VPT authorities stated that the management has no connection with the fraudulent website. Reiterating the message, the VPT stated that www.vizagport.com is the only official website of Visakhapatnam Port Trust. Requesting the aspirants to directly contact the trust in case of enquiries about the jobs, the officials urged the youth to be mindful of fake websites claiming to offer jobs at the port trust. Speaking to Yo!, Visakhapatnam Sub-Inspector (Cybercrimes), Ravi Kishore said, the police will investigate the fake website case and identify the fraudsters. Adding that it is difficult to ascertain the number of people, who have fallen prey to the scam, he mentioned that there are several fake websites on the internet.
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