NOB-Hyderabad news: Cybercriminals have launched a sophisticated new “WhatsApp Impersonation Fraud” scheme, specifically targeting business heads, CEOs, CFOs, and accountants. By sending malicious phishing links to corporate email addresses, they are injecting malware into computers, thereby gaining complete remote access to the systems. Once they have taken control of a system, they exploit active WhatsApp Web sessions to send deceptive messages to accountants, posing as the CEO or CFO. Employing social engineering tactics such as claiming to be in an urgent meeting and unable to answer the phone the cybercriminals are manipulating accountants into immediately transferring crores of rupees into their own accounts. Since the messages appear to originate directly from the phone numbers of the business heads, CEOs, or CFOs, the accountants are convinced of their legitimacy and proceed to transfer the funds. Given the recent rise in such cases reported within the jurisdiction of the Hyderabad Commissionerate, every company is urged to remain vigilant. Do not blindly trust financial requests received via WhatsApp that purport to come from senior officials. Instead, immediately call the concerned individual directly to verify the authenticity of the message. Ensure that high-quality firewalls and antivirus software are installed and kept up-to-date on all office systems. Additionally, do not forget to log out every time you use WhatsApp Web. If you fall victim to cyber fraud, call the helpline number 1930 immediately, without any delay. Alternatively, file a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in.