Hyderabad: The impersonation of a trustee of a private hospital by a cyber fraudster resulted in the trust losing ₹50 lakh.An authorised employee of the trust received a WhatsApp message from a number displaying the trustee’s photograph as the display picture (DP). The sender enquired about the balance in the trust’s bank account. After receiving a reply, the impersonator instructed the employee to transfer ₹50 lakh and shared the bank account details of an account registered in Kerala.Believing that he was acting on the instructions of the trustee, the employee submitted a request to the bank along with an unsigned cheque. As the trust was a long-standing customer, a bank employee processed the cheque and transferred ₹50 lakh despite the absence of the trustee’s signature.The employee subsequently shared the transaction confirmation with the number from which he had received the request. A short while later, the fraudster asked him to transfer another ₹1 crore and continued to send messages.Suspecting foul play, the employee contacted the trustee on his actual phone number. When the trustee denied requesting any transfer of funds, the employee realised that he had been cheated and approached the police.
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