NEW DELHI: Chandigarh Police’s Cyber Crime unit arrested a 34-year-old man from Mumbai for allegedly defrauding a metropolis resident of Rs1.3 crore by way of an elaborate WhatsApp impersonation rip-off. The accused, recognized as Joshua Oscar Nevis, allegedly posed because the sufferer’s employer and tricked him into transferring the cash.
Fraud through WhatsApp Impersonation
According to officers, the sufferer acquired a WhatsApp message from an unknown quantity the place the sender pretended to be his boss, requesting pressing funds for a mission. Believing it to be real, the complainant transferred Rs 1.3 crore into Nevis’s ICICI Bank account. The fraud got here to mild after the transaction was flagged, main to the registration of an FIR on April 20 underneath a number of provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).Police groups led by SP Cyber Crime Geetanjali Khandelwal tracked Nevis to Mumbai, the place he was arrested on August 13. During interrogation, he admitted to handing over his banking devices and SIM card to contacts on Telegram, which have been then misused in the rip-off. Authorities suspect a wider community is concerned, and additional investigation is underway.The Cyber Crime unit has warned the public in opposition to such impersonation schemes, advising individuals not to switch cash for “verification,” to keep away from arrest, or to resolve fabricated instances. Citizens have been urged to cross-check suspicious requests by way of native police or the Cyber Crime Helpline.