Hyderabad: Hyderabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar on Saturday, April 4, cautioned corporate firms against cyber fraudsters targeting emails and impersonating authorities via WhatsApp.
In a video message, Sajjanar said, “Cybercriminals have launched a sophisticated new “WhatsApp Impersonation Fraud'”‘ scheme, specifically targeting business heads, CEOs, CFOs, and accountants.”
He explained that the cyber fraudsters target official emails by sending malicious phishing links to inject malware into computers, to gain complete remote access to the systems. Sajjanar said that after gaining access to the computer, they exploit active WhatsApp Web sessions to send deceptive messages to accountants, posing as the CEO or CFO.
In a message posted on X, Sajjanar said, ” As we are making progress in technology. Cybercriminals are also using increasingly sophisticated methods of fraud. Recently, we came across two cybercrime cases involving reputed corporate firms, and their accountants received messages on WhatsApp impersonating their managing directors.”
He said that, believing the messages to be genuine, the accountants transferred money to the given account numbers. An investigation into the matter revealed that those were fake messages and the money was credited to the fraudsters’ accounts.
Sajjanar said he personally checked the accountant’s phone during the investigation and found that the fraudsters impersonated the MD.
He said that fraudsters gained access to WhatsApp by hacking the computers. He urged the business owners to alert the accountants and staff not to trust any financial requests. “Ask them to call you directly regarding the message before transferring the amount,” he said.
Use of social engineering tactics
The commissioner said that the fraudsters use social engineering tactics such as claiming to be in an urgent meeting and unable to answer the phone, and they manipulate the accountants to transfer crores of rupees into their own accounts.
“Since the messages appear to originate directly from the phone numbers of the business heads, CEOs, or CFOs, the accountants are convinced of their legitimacy and proceed to transfer the funds,” said the commissioner.
Firms asked to remain vigilant
Sajjanar cited the rise in such cases and urged the corporate firms to be vigilant: “Do not blindly trust financial requests received via WhatsApp that purport to come from senior officials. Instead, immediately call the concerned individual directly to verify the authenticity of the message,” he said.
He urged firms to deploy high-quality firewalls and antivirus software to be installed and kept up-to-date on all office systems. He also urged employees to log out of WhatsApp Web after work.
Those who fall prey to cybercrime must report it to 1930 or on the cybercrime portal
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