Pune: An online fraudster posed as the owner of a prominent construction firm associated with projects in Mumbai, Pune and other cities in India, and compelled its manager to transfer Rs20.9 lakh to a bank account on January 8.The manager (54) of the construction company, having a corporate office in the Koregaon Park area, lodged a complaint of cheating with the Koregaon Park police on Friday. According to the police, the firm’s manager is a resident of Prabhat Road in Deccan. He has been working with the company for several years.
According to the complaint, the online fraudster contacted the firm’s manager on a cellphone messaging application. The display picture (DP) of the cellphone number used to execute the crime was of the company’s owner. A police officer said, “The fraudster posed as the company’s owner and wrote a message to the manager that he was in a business meeting and needed money immediately to finalise a deal. The crook created such a hurry that the manager thought the former was his actual boss.” He said, “The fraudster then shared the bank account details and told the firm’s manager to transfer the money. After receiving the bank details in the message, the company’s manager transferred Rs20.9 lakh without contacting the owner.”
