NEW DELHI: Delhi Police registered a case and launched an investigation after the WhatsApp account of a Union Minister’s wife was hacked, leading to fraudulent money demands being sent to her contacts.According to a formal complaint submitted to the Cyber Police Station in New Delhi by a senior official from the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, the incident began on May 1. Unaware of the deception, she shared a one-time password (OTP) with someone posing as a known contact who claimed to have mistakenly sent it. The hacker then gained control of her WhatsApp account.Following the breach, several of her contacts, including senior diplomats and ambassadors, received fraudulent messages from her number, requesting Rs 20,000 transfers to two mobile-linked UPI accounts. According to the complaint, the ambassadors later reported that their WhatsApp accounts were also compromised, raising concerns about a broader, coordinated cyberattack targeting high-level bureaucrats and diplomats.The compromised WhatsApp account was promptly disabled, and two-factor authentication was enabled to prevent further unauthorised access. However, another hacking attempt was reported on May 3.An official case was registered, and investigations are ongoing.
