On June 3, a Deputy General Manager working in the accounts division of the company received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number. The sender falsely identified himself as the company’s Executive Director and instructed the official to save the number as a “personal contact” and not to share it with anyone. The display picture on the account featured the Executive Director’s photograph, which strengthened the credibility of the impersonation.
The fraudster further instructed the employee that he was in an urgent meeting and should not be contacted by phone. He then began issuing instructions for financial transfers, sharing multiple bank account details and directing the employee to process payments from the company’s account. Trusting these instructions, the employee initiated the first transaction of ₹46.5 lakh.
Between June 3 and June 15, the employee carried out a total of 63 transactions, cumulatively transferring ₹10,40,71,924 from the company’s accounts to multiple beneficiary accounts as directed by the impersonator.
The fraud came to light when the employee later requested invoices for accounting documentation. Upon approaching the actual Executive Director through official communication channels, he was informed that no such instructions had ever been issued. The realization confirmed that the company had been defrauded through a coordinated impersonation scam.
A formal complaint was subsequently lodged with the police, prompting an investigation across jurisdictions. During the probe, Delhi Police received a tip-off from the Jasola branch of IDFC FIRST Bank regarding suspicious withdrawal attempts linked to the transferred funds. Acting under the recently implemented Operation CyHawk, police had directed financial institutions to flag unusual transactions and cash withdrawals.
Acting on the alert, officers from the South-East District Police apprehended two individuals, identified as Vikas and Vansh, at the bank while they attempted to withdraw ₹8 lakh in cash. During interrogation, both admitted to providing their bank accounts for routing fraudulent funds in exchange for commissions of ₹30,000 and ₹20,000 respectively.
Further investigation led to the identification and arrest of two additional accused, Faiyaz Alam and Amit. Faiyaz Alam revealed that another individual had coordinated the arrangement, offering a two percent commission for facilitating the use of bank accounts in the transfer chain.
Although four arrests have been made, law enforcement agencies continue to search for the primary mastermind behind the cyber fraud network. Investigators are also tracing the destination accounts of the diverted funds to determine the full extent of the organized cybercrime operation.
The incident underscores the growing sophistication of impersonation-based financial frauds targeting corporate systems and the critical role of real-time banking surveillance in detecting and disrupting such schemes.
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