Pune: An employee of a company was tricked into transferring a substantial sum of ₹40.60 lakh online, believing it was the company owner who had instructed him. The case was reported to the Deccan Police Station by Ashish Rajiv Bodas, a 39-year-old resident of Prabhat Road.

According to the complaint, On the evening of October 21, 2023, around 8 PM, Ashish received a WhatsApp call from unknown conspirators pretending to be the company owner.

The caller stated they were in an important meeting and instructed Ashish to check his WhatsApp messages and follow the instructions. The message contained details to transfer ₹40,60,909 to a specified bank account. When Ashish tried to call back for confirmation, the cybercriminals cut the call and sent a message claiming they couldn't talk as they were in a meeting.

Trusting the authenticity of the message, Ashish proceeded to transfer the money. Upon realizing the fraud, he immediately reported the incident to the police. Senior Police Inspector Swapnali Shinde is leading the investigation into this case.

This is second case which has come to light using the modus operandi of posing as company owner. Reecntly, cybercriminals had defrauded a prominent executive from a Pune-based construction company of ₹50 lakh by impersonating his boss over the phone.

The fraudsters later attempted to swindle an additional ₹48 lakh but were thwarted when suspicions arose. The incident had occurred between July 1 and July 10 at the Kumar Properties office in the Camp area. The Cantonment Police have registered a case in this regard.