Navi Mumbai company loses Rs 75 lakh in cyber fraud

Thane, May 22 (PTI) A fake WhatsApp message pretending to be from the managing director of a farmers producer company in Navi Mumbai led an employee of the accounts department to transfer Rs 75 lakh to cyber fraudsters, police said on Thursday.

The online fraud involving deception and impersonation played out between May 18 and 19, they said.

A senior officer from the Cyber Police Station, Navi Mumbai, said, "Based on a complaint filed by the company, we registered an FIR on May 21 under sections 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 318(4) (cheating), and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act against unidentified persons." A 30-year-old employee with the accounts department of the company based in Turbhe received a WhatsApp message on May 18, allegedly from the firm's MD, instructing him to urgently transfer Rs 75 lakh to a bank account provided in the message.

"Believing the instructions to be genuine and urgent, the employee complied without verifying further and transferred the full amount as instructed. It was only later that he discovered the message was not from the MD, but part of a fraud," the officer explained.

Police have traced the mobile phone number used in the crime and bank account where the funds were transferred, he said.

"Our team is working on tracing the digital footprints and identifying the suspects," the officer said.

The Navi Mumbai police have issued a fresh advisory urging companies and employees to verify high-value financial requests received over messaging platforms, even when they appear to come from senior management, he added.

"This is a serious case of cyber impersonation and financial fraud. We are pursuing leads based on electronic evidence and bank transaction details," the officer said. PTI COR RSY