After incidents of online fraud, Delhi CEO asks people to visit EC website for info

Soon after two incidents of fraud were reported last month, CEO Office Delhi has requested people to visit Election Commission's official website for any voter-id card related work or queries.

New Delhi: The Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi on Monday advised people to visit the Election Commission website for important information pertaining to voter cards, after two incidents of cyber fraud were reported in the last month.

The office of the CEO was informed about two incidents of cyber fraud in which unauthorized private websites were found offering voter ID card related services in exchange for money, a statement said.

"According to the website of Election Commission Of India, no charges are required to be paid by the public while submitting online application related to the voter ID card," it added.

CEO Office, Delhi had requested DCP, Election, Delhi Police to lodge FIR and take necessary action against the offender at the earliest in both incidents, the statement said. In one of the incidents, a 27-year-old man has been arrested from Rajasthan for allegedly cheating people on the pretext of making and renewing voter ID cards through a website.

The accused is under judicial custody after two days of police custody, it said. Interrogation revealed that the accused had been using the fake website for six to seven months and has cheated around 5,000 people of nearly Rs 25 lakh. In the second incident, an investigation is underway.

"The public is, therefore, advised to visit ECI's official website, eci.gov.in, or CEO Delhi's website, ceodelhi.gov.in, or call the voter helpline number (1950) for authentic and official information and prevent themselves from being cheated by the unscrupulous elements," it said.

Any such information available or displayed online must be verified from the official websites, the statement said. (PTI report)