The West Region Cyber Police Station has uncovered a major cyber fraud racket involving the impersonation of a company director on WhatsApp. Six individuals have been arrested for allegedly scamming a reputed company out of ₹1.93 crore by manipulating a senior employee into transferring funds to a fake bank account.
The incident occurred between April 12 and 15, when the employee received WhatsApp messages from an unknown number claiming to be the company’s director. Acting on the messages, the employee transferred ₹1.93 crore to an ICICI Bank account. Investigations revealed that this account was already linked to 11 other complaints on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Following a detailed technical investigation, the police arrested the accused from Pune, Nashik, Mumbai, Goa, and Uttar Pradesh. The arrested individuals have been identified as Shubham Bajirao Kunjir, Akshay Shelke, Ujjwal Singh, Shubhamkumar Pardeshi, Aditya Shinde alias Lucifer, and Ayarn Mishra alias Sinchan Bohra.
The gang used fake SIM cards, opened bank accounts in others’ names, and shared internet banking credentials with Chinese cybercriminals. Some of the accused were involved in converting stolen money into cryptocurrency and foreign currency for laundering.
During the crackdown, police seized 28 mobile phones, 1 laptop, 16 SIM cards, 13 cheque books, 8 debit cards, a pistol, and four live cartridges. One of the accused, Iron Shivpal Mishra, was found in possession of the illegal weapon and played a key role in sharing banking credentials and OTPs with foreign fraudsters through Telegram and SMS.apk files.
An FIR has been registered under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the IT Act, and the Arms Act. The investigation is ongoing to uncover more international connections and further suspects.
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