Pune: In a shocking incident, cybercriminals defrauded a prominent executive from a Pune-based construction company of ₹50 lakh by impersonating his boss over the phone. The fraudsters later attempted to swindle an additional ₹48 lakh but were thwarted when suspicions arose.

The incident took place between July 1 and July 10 at the Kumar Properties office in the Camp area. The Cantonment Police have registered a case in this regard.

The scam came to light when Mitesh Prayanta Udeshi, the Chief Managing Officer of Kumar Properties and Promoters Pvt. Ltd., received a missed call from a number that Truecaller identified as belonging to their CEO, Rajas Jain.

When Udeshi called back, the call was disconnected. Subsequently, the cyber thief called the company’s landline, impersonating Jain and instructing the operator to have Udeshi check an urgent message.

The message directed Udeshi to transfer ₹49,60,400 to a bank account under the name Agnivesh Rai, citing an urgent need. Udeshi complied, transferring the money from the company’s account. The next morning, he received another message demanding ₹48,60,000, with a promise that the necessary signatures would be done in the afternoon.

Growing suspicious, Udeshi called the number again, but the call was disconnected. Upon further inquiry, he discovered that Jain did not have a second mobile number and had not sent any such instructions. Realizing they had been defrauded, Udeshi promptly reported the incident to the police.

The Cantonment Police have filed a case and are investigating the matter further, aiming to track down the cybercriminals behind this sophisticated fraud.