Bengaluru director duped into buying ₹7.5 lakh in vouchers by scammer impersonating CEO: Report

A Bengaluru director lost ₹7.5 lakh in a cyber fraud after being deceived into buying gift vouchers by someone impersonating his CEO.

In yet another incident of cyber fraud in Bengaluru, a director at a multinational company fell victim to an online scam and lost ₹7.5 lakh after being tricked into buying gift vouchers by someone posing as his company’s CEO.

The case is under investigation by cybercrime authorities following a complaint filed by the victim in Bengaluru. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

The incident came to light after Abhishek Mitra, the victim, filed a formal complaint with the Whitefield Division Cyber Crime Police, who registered a case on Friday, as per a report by The Hindu. The FIR invokes relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000, as well as Sections 318 and 319 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, which pertain to cheating and impersonation.

According to Mitra’s statement, he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number, with the sender claiming to be the CEO of his firm. The imposter, pretending to be stuck in a meeting in the United States, urgently requested Mitra to buy Apple Store gift vouchers and share the codes.

Trusting the message and without verifying the identity of the sender, Mitra proceeded to purchase 80 Apple Store vouchers online and sent the codes to the number. The scam unravelled shortly afterward when he contacted the actual CEO, who denied sending any such request or receiving any codes.

Realising he had been duped, Mitra immediately reported the matter to cybercrime authorities, said the report. Police officials confirmed that an investigation is underway to trace the IP addresses and the digital footprint of the fraudster.

Cybercrime experts caution that this is a textbook case of "executive impersonation fraud," where scammers target employees by pretending to be high-ranking officials to manipulate them into transferring money or sharing sensitive information.

Authorities have urged corporate employees to double-check any financial requests, especially those made over unofficial channels like WhatsApp or email, and report suspicious activity immediately.

HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of this information.