Pretending to be the director, the accused engaged the CFO in conversation, citing urgent business needs for an upcoming project involving government officials and a private firm. The fraudster then requested a large payment to be made as part of this project
Police have recovered 28 phones and 13 chequebooks. REPRESENTATION PIC/ISTOCK
The cyber police of the western region of the Mumbai police have dismantled a sophisticated cyber fraud operation that used WhatsApp impersonation to deceive a senior finance executive into transferring Rs 1.93 crore from a company’s bank account. Police have arrested six people, and investigations have revealed links to cryptocurrency laundering and foreign cyber operatives.
“The victim in this case is the chief finance officer (CFO) of a private company based in Andheri. Between April 12 and April 15, he received messages via WhatsApp from a mobile number displaying the company director’s photo, which established authenticity,” police said.
Pretending to be the director, the accused engaged the CFO in conversation, citing urgent business needs for an upcoming project involving government officials and a private firm. The fraudster then requested a large payment to be made as part of this project. Believing the sender to be a genuine company executive, the CFO initiated a transfer of Rs 1,93,06,000 from the company’s account. The entire communication was conducted through WhatsApp.
Realisation and reporting
The fraud came to light on April 15, when the impersonator asked for an additional Rs 3 crore to be transferred. Suspicious, the CFO approached the actual director, who clarified he had not made any such request. The deception was then immediately reported to the police. An FIR was officially registered on April 28.
Arrests and modus operandi
Following an in-depth technical investigation, the cybercrime unit arrested six individuals in connection with the case. The primary accused has been identified as Shubham Bajirao Kunjir, 28, from Pune, who held the beneficiary account where the funds were transferred. The second and third accused are Akshay Gorakh Shelke, 28, from Nashik and Ujjwal Raj Kumar Singh, 29, from Andheri, whose roles are still under investigation.
The fourth accused, Shubhamkumar Jaipal Singh Pardeshi alias Rajput, 28, from Nashik, allegedly arranged hotel accommodations and collected banking kits used in the crime. The fifth accused, Aditya Dilip Shinde alias Lucifer, 31, from Goa, is accused of relaying transaction data. The sixth accused, Iran Shivpal Mishra alias Shinchan Nohra alias Aaru, 33, from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly shared internet banking credentials and OTPs with Chinese handlers via the Telegram app and converted the funds into cryptocurrency (USDT).
Following the arrests, police seized 28 mobile phones, one laptop, 16 SIM cards, 13 cheque books, eight debit cards, one pistol and four live cartridges (from accused Shinchan Nohra). Investigation revealed that the bank account the accused were using was involved in at least 11 cyber fraud complaints registered with the national cybercrime portal, with crores of rupees potentially routed through it.
The investigation was led by Purushottam Karad, DCP (Cyber Crime), Rajendra Shiratode, ACP (Cyber), along with Sr PI Suvarna Shinde, PI Savita Mali, and officers from the cyber police station, west region. Police have urged citizens not to act on financial requests received over WhatsApp or any other online platforms without verbal communication. “Verify identities independently, or in person and in any such scams, immediately report at 1930 or at the National Cyber Crime Portal https://cybercrime.gov.in,” said an official.
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