Hyderabad: Fraudster uses biz woman’s DP to extort ₹1.2 Cr; case registered

Hyderabad: An imposter used a woman entrepreneur’s picture as DP on WhatsApp to loot ₹1.2 crore from her company.

The incident came to light after the Hyderabad Cyber Crime Police Station received a complaint.

Fraud executed through a fake WhatsApp profile

According to police, the fraud took place on March 13 when the victim’s company accountant received a WhatsApp message from a number displaying the entrepreneur’s name and photograph. Believing it to be his employer, the accountant responded to the message.

The fraudster, posing as the business owner, instructed the accountant to check the company’s bank balance and transfer ₹1.2 crore to a specified account immediately.

Accountant transfers funds, believing instructions

Trusting the authenticity of the message, the accountant transferred the entire amount to the account shared by the fraudster without verifying the request through other means.

Fraud detected after suspicious follow-up message

The scam came to light on March 17 when the accountant received another similar message. This time, he approached the entrepreneur directly with cheque documents for confirmation. It was then that they realised the earlier transaction was fraudulent.

Complaint lodged, probe underway

The victim stated that she frequently travels abroad for business and had entrusted financial responsibilities to her staff, which the fraudsters exploited.

Following the discovery, the victim immediately reported the incident to the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) and lodged a complaint with the police.

Authorities have registered a case and initiated an investigation to trace the accused and recover the defrauded amount.

Public Advisory

Police have urged businesses and individuals to verify financial instructions received via messaging platforms, even if they appear to come from known contacts, to avoid falling prey to such impersonation scams.