Mumbai Police Arrest Two in ₹48.6 Lakh Boss Scam: CEO Impersonated on WhatsApp

The Mumbai police's cybercrime department has arrested two individuals from Bihar and Jharkhand for allegedly defrauding an accountant of ₹48.60 lakh in a 'Boss scam' between August 14 and August 16. The accused are believed to have impersonated the complainant's CEO on WhatsApp to trick him into transferring the money.

In a Boss scam, fraudsters pose as senior company officials such as CEOs or directors and convince employees to transfer large sums from corporate accounts. According to an advisory issued by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre on June 22, 2026, cybercriminals often target high-ranking executives by sending malicious files via email or WhatsApp, ostensibly for urgent regulatory compliance. Once opened, the malware compromises the executive's device and active WhatsApp web sessions, allowing fraudsters to send messages to subordinates and orchestrate fraudulent transfers.

In this case, the complainant is an accountant at a pipe company in Mumbai. He received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number displaying the name and profile picture of his company's CEO. The fraudster claimed to be in a meeting and requested an urgent transfer of funds to a specified account. Believing the message was genuine, the accountant transferred ₹48.60 lakh. Later, the police discovered that the amount was moved to a mule bank account in Kolkata.

The police registered a case under sections 338(3) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), read with sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. Following a complaint, investigators traced the mobile number used by the fraudster to Rukundi Pur in Bihar, where they arrested Aamir Chand Mohammad Khan, a point-of-sale Airtel SIM vendor, on August 14, 2026. His accomplice, Suraj Kumar Pradeep Kumar Saw, also known as Vishal, was arrested from near Jamtara in Jharkhand on August 16.

According to Assistant Police Inspector Ramdas Gopal, the SIM card used in the scam belonged to an Army soldier who had returned home to Bihar on leave. The soldier had approached Khan to port his Jio SIM to Airtel. Khan allegedly took his documents for e-KYC but claimed a system problem prevented activation. He then sent the SIM to Vishal for use in the fraud. Khan is also accused of illegally activating SIM cards of other Bihar residents using misappropriated documents and e-KYC, and selling eight SIM cards to Vishal for ₹6,000 via UPI.

Investigations further revealed that the accused may be linked to seven similar cases across India, including two in Mumbai and one each in Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, all registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. The police also stated that eight other individuals arrested on July 25, 2026, in connection with similar Boss scams in Mumbai, had allegedly defrauded victims of around ₹10.40 crore. So far, ₹6 crore has been recovered from them.

The two accused were produced before the Girgaon magistrate court on August 19, which remanded them to police custody until August 25. The police have seized 161 SIM cards, a megaphone, and a POCO phone with the 'Airtel Mitra' app used for activating SIMs from the accused.

Authorities have urged employees and financial officers to verify any urgent requests for money transfers through independent means, such as calling the executive directly on a known phone number, before acting. Cybercrime experts also advise against sharing sensitive account information over messaging platforms.

The investigation is ongoing, and police are working to trace the mule account and recover the defrauded amount.