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37-year-old software engineer in Hyderabad loses ₹3.5 lakh to WhatsApp CEO impersonation scam

Oct 19, 2025Hyderabad, India1 source

Summary

A 37-year-old software engineer in Hyderabad lost ₹3.5 lakh to fraudsters who impersonated his company's CEO on WhatsApp. The victim received a message from an international number with the CEO's profile picture and name on October 19. The scammer claimed to have an urgent client requirement and asked for Apple gift vouchers, which the victim purchased over three days using UPI and credit cards. On October 22, after contacting his actual CEO, the victim discovered the scam. He provided chat screenshots, payment receipts, and transaction IDs to police, who registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

Incident Details

Domain
Fraud & Financial
Mechanism
contact
Platforms
WhatsApp
Companies
private IT firm
Recipient
IndividualA 37-year-old software engineer employed at a private IT firm in Madhapur, Hyderabad
Dimensions
economic

Sources

1
City techie loses 3.5L to impersonation scam on WA - The Times of India
Google News Historical Backfill·Oct 26, 2025

This incident is documented by a single source. Source count reflects coverage in our monitored feeds, not the totality of reporting, and we do not evaluate publication quality.