The cyber crime police are on the lookout for a person, who posed as the managing director of a private company and hoodwinked the firm’s HR manager to transfer ₹28.8 lakh online and then escaped.
Based on a complaint by Nirmal Jain, owner of the private firm, the police have registered a case against the unknown person, charging him under various Sections of the IT Act and also under cheating and impersonation under the IPC on Sunday.
Mr. Jain in his complaint said that the accused sent a WhatsApp message to the HR manager Thirupathi Rao claiming to be Paras Jain, MD of the company. The WhatsApp profile contained the MD’s photograph and the message said that it was his personal number and that he was in a meeting and was not to be disturbed. The person then asked Mr. Rao to transfer the money to three bank accounts online on an emergency basis.
Mr. Rao carried out the instructions and transferred a total of ₹28,89,807 to the private bank account numbers mentioned in the message. The fraud came to light when he informed the senior officials about the transactions.
The police are now trying to track down the accused based on the transactions details. This is a new trend among online fraudsters, who download the profile pictures of senior executives of the companies to cheat their office staff, said the police.
