New Delhi: A college accountant transferred Rs 80 lakh from the institution’s account to a private firm after receiving WhatsApp messages from a fraudster posing as a senior official of that institution.The accused allegedly used the name and photograph of the authority to convince the accountant to transfer the money urgently, who complied without verifying the instructions with the authority concerned.“The fraud came to light after the institution’s management discovered the unauthorised transaction and approached police. Abhishek Jain, general secretary of Rishi Aurobindo Educational Society, which runs Chander Prabhu Jain College of Higher Studies and School of Law in Narela, lodged a complaint,” a senior police officer said.The next day, on Oct 27, an e-FIR was registered for cheating, impersonation and forged documents under sections of BNS.During the investigation, police traced the money to the beneficiary account of M/s N S Traders and identified its proprietor as Noushad (33), a resident of Loni in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh. “A police team apprehended him from Ghaziabad on Oct 29,” the officer added.Police said the accused disclosed the involvement of other people in the fraud; their identities and respective roles are being verified.“The case is an instance of a growing cybercrime tactic known as ‘boss impersonation fraud’, in which fraudsters use the identity of senior officials to trick employees handling financial transactions into transferring money,” said police.Recovering the amount, police said, “We have secured the entire Rs 80 lakh through a hold placed on the beneficiary bank account, effectively securing 100% of the cheated amount.”
