COIMBATORE: A 44-year-old jeweller in Coimbatore lost Rs 60 lakh after cyber fraudsters impersonated him on WhatsApp and tricked his accountant into transferring the money to bank accounts provided by them. Police arrested three fraudsters, identified as Lavakesh Kumar Singha, 44, Kamal Yadav, 45, and Vinod Kumar Mishra, 55, all from Uttar Pradesh.




In the last week of October, the jeweller’s accountant received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number displaying the former’s name and profile picture. Believing that the message was from his employer, the accountant responded.




The fraudster then claimed that Rs 60 lakh was urgently required for business purposes and instructed the accountant to transfer the amount to two bank accounts that would be shared. Trusting the message, the accountant transferred Rs 60 lakh from the company’s bank account.




The owner was shocked when he later noticed the transaction and questioned the accountant. It was then that they realised that fraudsters had impersonated him and cheated the company. The owner lodged a complaint with the Coimbatore city cyber crime police , who registered a case and launched an investigation.




Police traced the bank accounts to which the money had been transferred. They found that the accounts belonged to Lavakesh Kumar Singha and Kamal Yadav. Further investigations revealed that Vinod Kumar Mishra had allegedly arranged the bank accounts for cyber fraudsters in return for commission.




A police team travelled to Uttar Pradesh and arrested all three men. A senior police officer said the investigation revealed that the bank accounts provided by the accused had been used by cyber fraudsters to cheat people of nearly Rs 2 crore.




“The three accused have cases registered against them in three states, including Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, in connection with boss scams. They have now been arrested in the case registered in Coimbatore and are investigating,” the officer said.