Mumbai, Apr 19 (PTI) A case has been registered after a fraudster impersonated the director of a private company and made its accountant transfer Rs 30 lakh to a bank account shared by him, an official said on Saturday.

Based on a complaint filed by the 61-year-old accountant, the West Region Cyber Police Station has launched a probe, he said.

The fraudster had posed himself as Rushindra Sinha, director of GESPORTS Pvt Ltd, the official said.

According to the accountant, he received a WhatsApp message from an unidentified number on the evening of March 24. The display picture (DP) of the Whatsapp number was that of the company director Rushindra Sinha, the accountant told police.

The sender then introduced himself as Sinha and asked her to save the number, saying it was his new WhatsApp number.

The next morning, the accountant again received a WhatsApp message asking her to make an “advance payment” of Rs 50 lakh to the given bank account for a new project.

Meanwhile, she got a call from the same number, but it got disconnected. The accountant thought that Sinha was perhaps in a meeting and needed the money urgently, and she transferred Rs 30 lakh to the bank account shared by the WhatsApp number.

Next day, she again received a WhatsApp message from the same number, which had the company director’s photo as DP. The sender asked the accountant to transfer Rs 20 lakh to a different bank account number.

This time, the accountant cross-checked with the actual director Sinha, who said he had not given any such instructions. Sinha also said that he was not using any other WhatsApp-linked number, according to the FIR.

Realising that she had been fooled, the accountant dialed cybercrime helpline 1930 and report the digital crime, the official said.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons and a probe was underway, he said. PTI DC NR