HYDERABAD: Cyber fraudsters impersonated a company director on WhatsApp and duped a private firm of `25 lakh. A 46-year-old businessman, who is a director of a company, lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad Cybercrime police stating that a member of the accounts team received WhatsApp messages on the company mobile phone that appeared to originate from his number.
The messages initially enquired whether the employee was present in the office and later sought details of the balances available in the company’s bank accounts. Believing the messages to be genuine, she shared the account details.
The sender then instructed her to transfer `25 lakh to a bank account provided in the messages. Trusting the instructions, she processed the transaction.
The fraud came to light during a routine conversation when the director sought an update on the company’s affairs. The employee informed him that the payment had already been made and sought confirmation.
Questioning the purpose of the payment, the beneficiary and the authorisation for the transaction, the director realised that the company had fallen victim to cyber fraud.
Further verification revealed that the accounts team’s mobile phone had been compromised. The director’s genuine number had been blocked on the company phone, while a fraudulent number was saved and displayed with his profile picture, creating the impression that the messages were authentic.
Investigators also found that previous chat messages had been inserted into the conversation thread, making the fraudulent communication appear genuine and prompting the employee to act on the instructions.
Based on the complaint, Hyderabad Cybercrime police registered a case and launched an investigation.
