Pune: A microbiology student from Dombivli in Thane district and two gas stove repair workers from Panvel in Raigad district were arrested for allegedly facilitating a Rs 2.2-crore “CEO fraud” targeting an automobile dealership in Bavdhan last month.Police said the student, Sanchay Parag Chavan (20), had provided five bank accounts to the Panvel-based duo, Ramesh Kumar Puniya (24) and Prakash Panvar (20), both from Jodhpur in Rajasthan. A Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police team led by senior police inspector Ravikiran Nale made the arrests.Cybercriminals allegedly manipulated an account executive at the automobile dealership into transferring Rs2.2crore between Aug 13 and 14 posing as the firm’s director. The dealer (54) lodged a complaint with the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police on Aug 17. The cyber police managed to freeze Rs87 lakh of the defrauded amount. The remaining Rs1.33 crore was transferred to different bank accounts in Panvel, Kolkata and Odisha.The investigation revealed that one of the bank accounts in Panvel belonged to the microbiology student Chavan. A cyber police team led by police sub-inspector Sagar Poman took Chavan into custody from Dombivli recently.Poman said Chavan was in need of money and looking for a job. While playing online games, he came into contact with an accused from Rajasthan, who assured him of a good income and introduced him to Puniya and Panvar. “The duo worked as gas stove mechanics at a gas agency in Panvel,” Poman said. The officer said when Chavan contacted the duo, they told him to allow them to use his bank account, claiming they would receive a loan disbursement. They promised him a commission. “When Chavan started earning good money after allowing his bank account to be used as a mule account, he opened four more bank accounts and gave the duo access to them,” the officer said.Poman said the investigation revealed that after receiving money from cyber fraud victims in Chavan’s bank accounts, he would withdraw it either by cheque or from an ATM and hand it over to the duo. “Puniya and Panvar were not traceable. We tried to contact them through Chavan, but they refused to meet him for a few days. We then contacted the gas agency where they were working. We found that they had come to Panvel from Rajasthan just two months ago. Their residence was unknown to their co-workers,” Poman said.He said the police managed to trace one of the gas stove mechanics to Rajasthan, which helped them track down and arrest the duo at their house in Panvel. “The duo’s handler is based in Rajasthan. On his instructions, they used to operate the mule bank accounts in Panvel,” he said.Poman said that to avoid being traced by the police, the duo used to withdraw cash from the mule accounts. They would deposit small amounts into their handler’s bank account through cash deposit machines (CDMs), while large amounts were transferred through hawala transactions. “The duo’s handler is in contact with cybercriminals based abroad. We are searching for him,” Poman said.What is a ‘Boss Scam’?A “Boss Scam”, also known as CEO fraud, involves fraudsters impersonating chief executive officers (CEOs), managing directors or other senior corporate officials to trick employees into transferring money. In this case, the scammers first sent links to a staff member, mainly someone handling accounts. Once the person opened the link, hidden malware allegedly took control of the cellphone and hijacked the mobile messaging app.The scammers then blocked the CEO’s cellphone number and created a new profile using a different number, with the CEO’s photograph as the display picture. The crooks then sent instructions to transfer money to a bank account.PrecautionsPolice have appealed to company owners and senior executives to independently verify requests for fund transfers before acting on them, particularly when such instructions are received through WhatsApp or other messaging platforms.
