Fake message from CEO Adar Poonawalla’s number, Serum Institute duped of Rs 1 crore

Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) has been duped of Rs 1 crore by unidentified cyber fraudsters who allegedly posed as the company’s chief executive officer (CEO) Adar Poonawalla and sent a WhatsApp message to one of its directors seeking money transfer to various accounts, said the police.

According to a first information report (FIR) lodged at the Bundgarden police station on Friday based on the complaint of the company’s finance manager Sagar Kittur, the incident took place between 1.35 pm on September 7 and 2.30 pm on September 8.

The police said that director Satish Deshpande received a WhatsApp message from Poonawalla’s number with instructions to transfer money to a few bank accounts. Accordingly, Rs 1,01,01,554 was transferred from the company’s account to those accounts, they said.