Hyderabad Cybercrime police arrest Kerala man in Rs 1.20 crore CEO impersonation scam

Hyderabad Cybercrime police arrested Harshad from Kerala for duping a private company accountant of Rs 1.20 crore by impersonating the CEO on WhatsApp. The accountant reported the fraud after realizing a suspicious request, leading to a police investigation and arrest.

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Cybercrime police arrested a man from Kerala, who had duped an accountant working at a private company of Rs 1.20 crores by impersonating the company CEO.

The arrested man, Harshad, a resident of Kozhikode in Kerala, along with his two associates, Meethalie Puthiyottil Anaz and Vazhayi Valappil Hiba Fathima, had uploaded the picture of the CEO of the company on the WhatsApp profile of a phone number and sent a message to the account asking to transfer Rs 1.20 crore immediately to a bank account. Believing it to be a genuine request from the CEO, the accountant transferred the amount.

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The accountant, during the next request, grew suspicious and checked with the CEO and realised that some fraudsters had duped them earlier with a similar request and approached the police. A case was registered and one of the suspects was arrested.