E-Paper
Ludhiana: Posing as employer, fraudsters take away ₹1L
The fraudster, using WhatsApp messages, tricked the victim into purchasing Apple gift vouchers worth ₹1 lakh under the pretext of gifting them to clients
A Sarabha Nagar resident lost ₹1 lakh to an imposter who posed as the chief executive officer (CEO) of the IT company where he worked. The fraudster, using WhatsApp messages, tricked the victim into purchasing Apple gift vouchers worth ₹1 lakh under the pretext of gifting them to clients.
Victim Sahil Goyal said that Jeff Moyer, the CEO of his company, resides in the United States. On March 24, he received a WhatsApp message from a US-based number with Jeff Moyer’s profile picture. The sender, claiming to be the CEO, stated he was in a meeting with India-based clients and urgently needed Apple gift vouchers worth ₹5,000 each.
“I purchased 20 vouchers totaling ₹1 lakh, believing the sender was our CEO. The requests for more vouchers raised my suspicion as our company communicates using an official application, not WhatsApp,” Goyal said.
Upon contacting the CEO through the official communication platform, Goyal discovered that Jeff Moyer had not made any such request. He also attempted to redeem the vouchers himself but found that the accused had already redeemed them.
The fraud occurred on March 24, 2024. The police registered an FIR on Tuesday after a preliminary inquiry. Inspector Jatinder Singh, SHO of the cyber crime police station, said Sections 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code have been slapped on the unidentified culprits.
