Cybercriminals Dupe Pune Firm of Rs 2.34 Crore in CEO Fraud Scam
Pune, 24th March 2025: A data analysis company in Market Yard lost ₹2.34 crore to cyber fraudsters who impersonated the firm’s Canada-based founder, tricking an accountant into making multiple transactions. The cyber police registered a case on Saturday after the company’s 45-year-old accountant lodged a complaint.
According to police, the scam took place between February 19 and 24. The fraudsters first gave a missed call to an accounts department employee, who was at a hospital attending to his ailing mother. Following this, the employee received a message claiming to be from the company’s founder, using a “new number.”
The message read: “I am the founder, and this is my new number. I need details about the company’s account balances.”
Believing the message to be genuine, the employee forwarded it to the company’s accountant and advised her to contact the “founder” directly.
Once the accountant got in touch, the imposters instructed her to transfer money to multiple bank accounts, claiming the funds were needed for payments to an Australian firm.
The accountant and a colleague executed the transactions, transferring the money across 11 bank accounts. After each transfer, they even shared payment screenshots with the fraudsters, unaware they were dealing with scammers.
Since the real founder was in Canada, the transfers were made without direct verification. The fraudsters initially claimed they needed ₹3 crore for the Australian company and kept demanding more funds.
The fraud came to light when another company director noticed the continuous fund transfers and reached out to the office for clarification. The accountant’s colleague pointed out that each beneficiary account had a different name, which raised suspicion.
Sensing something was wrong, the director rushed to the bank and requested an immediate stop on transactions. However, by that time, ₹2.34 crore had already been sent to the fraudsters.
This is the second “CEO fraud” or “whale phishing” case in Pune this month, where cybercriminals target employees by impersonating senior executives. The cyber police have launched an investigation to track the culprits and recover the lost funds.
