CEO’s email hacked, fraudsters dupe leading firm in Pune of Rs54.39 lakh
A chief executive officer’s (CEO’s) email account was hacked and the company was duped of Rs54
A chief executive officer’s (CEO’s) email account was hacked and the company was duped of Rs54.39 lakh by cyber fraudsters. The incident took place between August 24 and August 26, said police.
The multinational company makes paper cup products and is located at Talegaon MIDC (Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation) in Pune.
The 46-year-old complainant, according to officials, is an employee who handles the financial transactions of the company.
A cyber-fraudster allegedly hacked into the email account of the CEO, sending emails to the accounts department and making the latter transfer Rs54.39 lakh to an unknown account.
The complainant received an email from his CEO’s official email ID asking him to transfer money from their private bank account to another account. The employee did as he was asked.
He had transferred a total of Rs54.39 lakh in five different bank transactions to the account number given by his CEO based in Italy mentioned in her mail. When the employee informed about the payment to the CEO, she denied sending any email and asked them to contact the respective bank to stop transactions.
“It seems like the email account was hacked and instruction regarding payment has been given to the company’s unit in Pune. We have registered a case,” said a police officer.
Police said, as a precautionary measure before sending the money, the sender should cross-check with the receiver through a phone call, SMS or WhatsApp whether any such request for sending money was made.
Police inspector Ranjit Sawant of Talegaon MIDC police station confirmed the registration of a first information report (FIR) under sections 410, 410 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other relevant sections under the Information Technology Act.