Hyderabad: An accountant working for two Jubilee Hills-based investment and real-estate firms was duped into transferring over Rs 2.4 crore to various bank accounts after fraudsters impersonated the promoter of the two companies on WhatsApp.Based on complaints filed by representatives of the two companies, the Hyderabad cybercrime police registered two separate cases on Wednesday. The complainants told police that they realised about the fraud only during reconciliation of account books for the 2025-26 financial year.According to the complainants, their common accountant Rakesh received messages in Sept 2025 from a number, 95***78***, which he believed belonged to the promoter of both companies.Acting on the instructions of the fraudsters, he initiated four RTGS transfers from one of the firm’s bank accounts. On Sept 9 and 10, in three separate transactions, the accountant transferred Rs 1.71 crore to two bank accounts of different private companies opened in Kukatpally and Bhubaneshwar.On Sept 11, he transferred Rs 74 lakh in four transactions to the two bank accounts of private firms opened in Mathura and Kolkata. When the complainants made inquiries with the managers of two of the recipient banks, they found out that the amount was transferred to hundreds of bank accounts within hours after it landed there.Both complainants alleged collusion by bank officials. Based on their complaints, cybercrime police of Hyderabad registered two separate cases under Sections 66-C, 66-D of the IT Act, Sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the BNS against unknown offenders.
