An unknown person has cheated Wilco publishing house of Rs 1.7 crore by posing as an official of the company and diverting payments from customers to his account with the help of a fake email ID.

The person had created the ID after contacting several customers from the United States and United Kingdom. Through the email they were informed that the company's account number had changed and that they needed to deposit money in the new one. After the Wilco authorities approached the Colaba police, the latter registered an offence and started investigations.