According to a police official, the accused employed deceptive tactics in a cyber fraud case. He fabricated a bogus email account and used a counterfeit company letterhead and forged signature to craft a fraudulent message addressed to the bank, requesting a money transfer.
Authorities have taken legal action against an unidentified cyber scammer for defrauding Union Bank of India’s Fergusson Road branch of ₹22.92 lakh, as per reports.
The incident occurred on January 4, 2022, and a formal complaint was filed on November 4 by Avanikant Niranjan Samantray (37), a resident of Koregaon Park, who is employed at Union Bank of India.
As the police narrate it, on January 4, 2022, Samantray received a call from an unfamiliar number. The caller posed as Vivek Sawant, the director of Sky Moto Auto Mobile Company Private Limited, and asked him to invest a sum in fixed deposits. After establishing trust, the fraudster sent an email from a fabricated email address, urging the bank to transfer ₹22,92,746 to three separate accounts.
Arvind Mane, the senior police inspector at Shivajinagar police station, stated, “The perpetrator established a phony email identity, employing a counterfeit company letterhead and a forged signature to send a request to the bank for the money transfer.”
Believing it to be a legitimate transaction initiated by the company, the bank executed the transfer to the account details provided by the fraudster. Subsequently, the company officials contacted the bank, leading to the involvement of law enforcement.
A case pertaining to this incident was registered at Shivajinagar police station, citing sections 419, 420, 465, 468, 471, and 34 of the IPC, along with sections 66(c) and 66(d) of the Information Technology Act.