A Mumbai employee was duped into transferring ₹1.98 crore after fraudsters impersonated a senior executive on WhatsApp, highlighting escalating corporate cyber scams and the importance of verification protocols.
A Mumbai company employee has lost ₹1.98 crore in a WhatsApp impersonation scam after fraudsters used the name and photograph of a senior executive to pressure him into making an urgent transfer, according to TV9 Hindi. The incident took place on August 6, 2026, when the general manager received a message from an unfamiliar mobile number asking for immediate payment into a bank account.
Believing the request had come from the firm’s director, the employee sent the money without checking further. The deception only came to light when he later informed the director on the latter’s actual number, at which point it became clear that the executive’s identity had been misused, TV9 Hindi reported.
Mumbai Police said the victim then contacted the city’s cyber helpline and the South Division cyber police station. Officers traced the transaction quickly and managed to secure ₹1,83,03,492, or about 92% of the stolen amount, according to the report. Police urged people to verify any payment instruction that arrives through WhatsApp, Telegram or other social platforms, especially if it comes from a new number or claims to be from a senior colleague.
The case fits a broader pattern of increasingly elaborate corporate fraud. The Times of India reported in June that two Mumbai firms lost a combined ₹3.5 crore in a separate scam in which fraudsters used malicious zip files to gain remote access to employees’ phones and then rewrote contact lists to impersonate bosses. Hindustan Times also reported a July case in Navi Mumbai in which a jewellery company lost ₹10.7 crore after a fake WhatsApp profile using the owner’s name and photograph tricked an accounts executive into making repeated transfers. Mumbai Police say its 1930 cyber helpline, which operates round the clock, is designed to help freeze stolen funds quickly and improve the chances of recovery.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
