CEO fraud: Cops issue warning after three arrests in 1.8cr scam
Times of India | 4 January 2025
Kolkata: The next time you receive ‘instructions" from your ‘boss", or an unidentified online instructor, through new email IDs (or almost replicas of the original) seeking the release of company funds, cross-check with the competent authority. There is a high chance that you are being duped. Cops have issued a warning, alerting citizens of the emerging CEO fraud where scamsters are posing as "bosses" to dupe people.
"Beware of CEO Fraud! Scammers often use WhatsApp with a CEO's display picture to trick employees into urgent fund transfers or sharing sensitive data. Always verify through official channels, question unusual or urgent requests and stay vigilant," the cops warned. On Thursday, cops had arrested three persons for duping a Haridevpur resident of Rs 1.8 crore in Oct.
In the complaint filed in Oct, Tarun Kumar Sarkar had alleged that he got a message via WhatsApp inviting him to join a programme called Pinnacle, meant to impart training and guidance in dealing with equity. The fraudster's photograph was that of a celebrated trade analyst, similar to how the CEO fraud works.
"The fraudster asked the complainant to download their app, which he did. Then, they induced the complainant to do some intra-day and then long-term trading. When the victim understood that he was being cheated, he had already lost Rs 1.8 crore. Based on financial and technical analysis, two raids were conducted and three persons were arrested. They have been identified as Alamgir Molla (30) and Minjarul Molla (35) of Tehatta in Nadia and Suman Mandi (32) of Kalyani. One DELL laptop, two mobile phones, several debit and credit cards, SIM cards of different service providers, several cheque books and passbooks were seized from them.