- By Sahelee Rakshit
- Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:20 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
A Hyderabad company's accounts officer received a WhatsApp message that said, "Send Rs 1.95 crore to this account." As an advance payment for a new project, it appeared to have come from a completely respectable source—the chairman and managing director of the firm. Thus, a proper transfer of Rs 1.95 crore was made.
However, there was a catch, as the message was not completely authentic.
It seemed that the message came from the MD's WhatsApp account and his profile picture was also there. Although the officer was tricked into sending around Rs 2 crore by a scammer.
This 'high-value cyber scam' was fortunately prevented by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau, which recovered the full sum for the MD, his firm, and the accounts officer.
The transfer, which was received earlier today, completed at 1:02 PM. Later, the actual managing director got a bank notification and, obviously alarmed, called his accounts officer right away.
The MD denied making any such request after being informed about the "WhatsApp message," and the business immediately lodged a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, or NCRP.
After verifying that the transaction had taken place, the NCRP immediately got to work retrieving the money. At first, it was challenging since certain information was lacking.
But with the help of the bank's nodal personnel, the firm, and the MD, the money was ultimately located, and the full Rs 1.95 crore was recovered.
Luckily, none of the money had been taken out by the fraudsters yet.
This is by no means the first incidence of cybercrime of this kind. Fake calls and texts have defrauded many men and women, including citizens and private businesses, of their hard-earned money, leading the authorities to repeatedly warn people to exercise caution.