“The imposter later demanded more money, which raised my suspicion. I went to the MD’s office at another branch to confirm and was shocked to learn that the MD had not made any such request,” Singh said.
The director of a forging industrial unit in Ludhiana was duped of ₹15 lakh by a fraudster posing as the company’s managing director (MD). The imposter contacted the victim through WhatsApp, using a new number with the MD’s display picture, and tricked him into transferring the amount for a purported investment in a new project.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO at the Cyber Crime police station, confirmed the incident and warned the public about the rising cases of impersonation scams. (HT File)
Narinder Singh, a resident of Jamalpur and director of the forging unit, filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime police station. Singh recounted that on January 8, around 6 pm, he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number claiming to belong to the company’s MD. The sender requested him to save the number and later asked for a transfer of ₹20 lakh to a bank account, citing an investment in a new project. Trusting the message, Singh transferred ₹15 lakh.
“The imposter later demanded more money, which raised my suspicion. I went to the MD’s office at another branch to confirm and was shocked to learn that the MD had not made any such request,” Singh said.
Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO at the Cyber Crime police station, confirmed the incident and warned the public about the rising cases of impersonation scams.
The inspector said that an FIR was registered against unidentified accused under sections 319(2) (cheating by personation) and 318(4) (cheating) of the BNS.
“Similar FIRs have been filed in the city where fraudsters posed as senior officials to dupe victims. People are advised to verify such requests by directly contacting the individual on their original contact number before transferring money,” he added.