Bengaluru cybercrime police have arrested four people for allegedly defrauding a deemed-to-be university of ₹1.40 crore through a fake WhatsApp account created in the name of its chairman. Police said the operation exposed a multi-state ‘boss scam’ network that had used more than 60 mule bank accounts and was linked to 22 fraud cases across different states.
The arrests were made by the Cyber Command Centre in Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The accused have been identified as Annayya, 25, from Devasandra Main Road in K.R. Puram; Buspalli Ravikumar Reddy, 26, from Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh; Ambaray, 39, from Kognur in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district; and Syed Wajihuddin Qadri, 25, from Telangana. Police said the alleged mastermind, identified as Sunny alias David, remains absconding and efforts are under way to trace him.
The case was registered after A.S. Santosh of the deemed-to-be university filed a complaint. Police said they seized ₹8.50 lakh in cash and four mobile phones from the arrested suspects, who were taken into custody for questioning. Two of the accused allegedly provided mule accounts in return for commissions, according to the investigation.
According to the police account, the fraud began on September 8 when the accused allegedly created a fake WhatsApp profile using the photograph and mobile number of university chairman Chenraj Raychand. The impersonator sent messages to the university’s accountant, Vinay Bhushan, asked for details of the funds held in the bank account and then instructed him to urgently transfer ₹1.40 crore.
Police said the accountant believed that the WhatsApp messages had been sent by the chairman and transferred the money from the institution’s account to accounts provided by the fraudsters. The alleged network then used cheques and withdrawals to move the funds. Police said Annayya had been luring local residents with promises of money, opening accounts in their names on the instructions of the alleged mastermind and sending the cheques to him. Ravikumar Reddy and Ambaray allegedly withdrew money using those cheques.
Investigators said the accused first sent an unfamiliar ZIP file to employees of the institution. Police allege that the file enabled unauthorised access to the Chrome browser system and allowed the suspects to log in to WhatsApp Web. The fraudsters allegedly downloaded university data without the staff’s knowledge and monitored financial transactions for about 15 to 20 days before impersonating the chairman and directing the accountant to transfer money.
Police said foreign IP addresses were used in the operation. Technical information led investigators to conduct searches in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, resulting in the four arrests. The investigation is continuing to establish the role of the absconding suspect, trace the diverted funds and identify other people whose accounts may have been used by the network.
The operation was conducted under the direction of Cyber Command Centre DGP Pranav Mohanty, ADGP A. Chandrashekar and DIG H.D. Anand Kumar. An ACP L. Naveen Kumar and Inspector Siddappa-led team carried out the investigation and arrests. Police said further action would follow as the inquiry into the alleged multi-state network continues.
