Bengaluru: Cybercrooks targeted the archdiocese of Bengaluru, impersonating archbishop Most Rev Dr Peter Machado through fake email accounts in an apparent bid to cheat religious institutions by seeking financial and other benefits.According to the complaint filed by public relations officer and spokesperson JA Kanthraj, fraudsters created fake email accounts and sent fraudulent messages seeking money and other favours in the name of Rev Peter Machado. On June 27, several religious congregations and individuals informed the archdiocese they had received suspicious emails appeared to have been sent by the archbishop. The emails allegedly manipulated the archdiocese’s identity and used an unofficial Gmail account to mislead recipients. The archdiocese clarified these emails were fraudulent and did not originate from the archbishop or any authorised office of the archdiocese of Bengaluru.The July 7 complainant requested police to trace the origin and IP address of the fraudulent emails, identify those responsible for creating and operating the fake accounts, and initiate legal action.