Cyber Fraud in Pune: Accountant Duped into Transferring Rs 1.9 Crore in Whale Phishing Scam

Pune, 11th March 2025: In a significant cyber fraud incident, an accountant working for an engineering and design firm was deceived into transferring ₹1.9 crore after fraudsters impersonated the company’s director. The 71-year-old director, a Sinhagad Road resident, lodged a complaint with the Pune Cyber Police on Monday after discovering the unauthorized transaction.

According to police, the culprits used a fraudulent messaging account that displayed the director’s photograph, sending a message instructing the accountant to urgently transfer funds to a specified bank account. “The fraudsters claimed that the director was in a business meeting and could not be reached, so they insisted that the money be sent immediately,” explained Cyber Police Inspector Yashwant Nikam.

“Unfortunately, the accountant, working from his home in Warje, did not verify the details and transferred the entire amount in one go.”

Inspector Nikam added, “We are still in the process of recording the accountant’s statement, and the incident came to our attention when the director personally reviewed the accounts at the company’s office in Mundhwa.”

The FIR reveals that instead of making a regular phone call, the fraudsters relied on text messages featuring the director’s image to lure the accountant into believing the communication was genuine. The message provided detailed bank account information and claimed to be from the director’s new phone number.

This case is the latest in a series of high-profile “whale phishing” scams, a form of CEO fraud that has plagued businesses in the region. In February last year, a Pune-based real estate developer lost ₹4 crore in a similar scam, leading to the arrest of two individuals from Haryana. Similarly, in September 2022, fraudsters defrauded a prominent local company of ₹1 crore by impersonating its CEO.