Navi Mumbai: After two months of meticulous probe, the Navi Mumbai Cyber police team have arrested a 38-year-old man from Kerala for his involvement in a cyber fraud using the ‘boss scam’ modus operandi wherein the accused along with his aide had defrauded a logistics company located in CBD-Belapur of Rs 62 lakh.The accused had hijacked the WhatsApp number of the logistics company’s owner and spoofed his display profile to impersonate a trusted contact, sent messages to the company’s accountant for transferring money to two bank accounts claiming that it was meant for a company vendor’s payment.The arrested accused has been identified as Shameer TP, a resident of Kakkad in Kannur district, Kerala. Out of the Rs 62 lakh defrauded money, Rs 32 lakh was received in the accused’s bank account in Kerala. Subsequently, he was traced to his residence and arrested on Oct 3.Vishal Patil, senior inspector of Navi Mumbai Cyber police station, said, “We have succeeded in freezing around Rs 15 lakh in different bank accounts where the money was further transferred by the accused and his aide, who is being traced. The arrested accused Shameer TP has a building materials business in Kerala. He claimed that as he was in need of money for business, his friend told him about the cyber scam modus operandi and both of them executed the crime.”The cyber scammers had targeted Cargo Movers and Logistics Pvt Ltd between Aug 19 and 31. After the fraud came to light, the company’s manager Amol Patil (42) registered an FIR at Navi Mumbai Cyber police station on Sept 2.As per the FIR, the company owner AG. George resides in the UK with his family and comes to the company’s head office in CBD-Belapur for inspection after every two to three months. On Aug 19, around 5 pm, when the complainant Amol Patil was at work at the company’s office, the accountant Sheetal Pawar told him that at 1.30 pm, she had received a WhatsApp message from a UK number with the display profile and name of the company’s owner AG. George, who asked her the company’s bank account balance amount and asked her to deposit Rs 95 lakh in a bank account provided in the message. Accountant Pawar replied by texting that the daily transaction limit of the office was Rs 50 lakh. As the owner always sends messages to transfer money, Pawar transferred Rs 30 lakh and sent the payment receipt on that WhatsApp number. Since such transactions were being made from the company’s account before, the complainant did not doubt.Later on Aug 31, around 11.30 am, the accountant Pawar received another message for transferring Rs 32 lakh to another bank account. Since there was an insufficient amount to pay the salary of office staff, Pawar replied by texting to that WhatsApp number, when she was told that the salary would be paid the next day. Hence, Pawar transferred Rs 32 lakh from the company’s account and sent the payment receipt. Thereafter, around 6 pm, the other accountant Shwetali Kunte texted owner AG George on the WhatsApp number saved in her contact asking him to transfer money to the company’s account to pay the salary of office staff. Kunte was asked why there was an insufficient amount in the company’s account; she told him about Rs 62 lakh transferred to two accounts as told by him by sending WhatsApp messages to accountant Pawar on Aug 19 and 31. When the owner AG George told her that he had not sent any such messages for transferring money, the complainant checked the transactions and found that the bank accounts where the money was transferred did not belong to any vendors of the company. Subsequently, the manager lodged a complaint on NCCRP after which an FIR was registered at Navi Mumbai Cyber police station.
