Mumbai: A leading company that manufactures plastics products, having its offices in Mumbai and Ahmedabad, has been swindled of Rs 11 lakh by two men posing as Indian Army men. A criminal offence has been registered by the Cyber Police and a probe is on.
On Dec 2 last year, an executive from the company’s Ahmedabad office received a call on his company phone from one Rajeev Ranjan, who introduced himself as an Army man. He placed an order for 70 plastic pallets — a flat platform used to transport or store goods — and haggled on the cost from Rs 2.6 lakh to Rs 2.4 lakh. The executive agreed, following which Ranjan offered to pay an advance of Rs 1 lakh. He promised to pay the balance once the product was delivered. To establish his authenticity, Ranjan sent across a copy of his Army canteen smart card.
The executive sent him the company’s bank account details for paying the advance. But Ranjan said he would have to conduct a verification of the bank account first. Later, his colleague, Kuldeep Singh from the “Army’s accounting department” spoke to the executive. Singh said that a Rs 5 payment transaction would have to be initiated from the company’s side.
He was directed to an employee from the company’s Mumbai office who had authority to initiate payment transactions from the company’s side. On the pretext of getting the employee to make a payment of Rs 5, Singh tricked him into making three payment transactions of Rs 3.61 lakh each while the two were still on the phone call. The company lost Rs 10.85 lakh within one day.
The employee and his superior made a conference call to Singh who started yelling at them for making payments to an incorrect bank account. He gave evasive responses when the employee and his superior asked him to refund the payments made. Thereafter, Singh disconnected the call and blocked the employee and his superior’s phone numbers.
On realising that the company had been cheated, it was decided to approach the Cyber Police with documentary evidence. After a preliminary inquiry, a criminal offence was registered on Mar 19.
