₹17 lakh lost in cyber fraud linked to fake defence purchase orders

Fraudsters posed as Air Force Academy officials to lure victims

HYDERABAD: Two Hyderabad-based companies lost nearly ₹17 lakh in separate cyber fraud cases where fraudsters impersonated officials from the Air Force Academy, Dundigal, and tricked them into transferring money under the pretext of defence purchase orders.

Two Hyderabad firms duped in separate online payment scams

In the first case, Sudarshan G Chary, 45, partner at Padmanabh Packaging, lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station. He stated that on September 16, he received a call from a person identifying himself as Sahil Kumar from the Air Force Academy’s procurement department. Kumar sought a supply of 10,000 corrugated boxes and asked for a proforma invoice.

Soon after, a purchase order was sent to the company’s email. The caller, along with another individual who introduced himself as Kuldeep Singh, accounts manager, asked the victim to make small trial transfers to complete vendor registration. Initially, ₹5 was transferred and refunded with ₹10 to build confidence.

Later, the fraudsters directed multiple transfers citing “registration” and “refund initiation” issues. The complainant transferred amounts in several instalments totalling ₹15,00,945 across accounts in Axis Bank, Canara Bank, HDFC Bank and others. Despite assurances, no refunds were made.

In another case, Trichnapally Subramanyam Sri Devi, 45, managing director of Bluedoor Global Solutions Pvt Ltd, reported that on September 18 she received a call from a man claiming to be Kunal from the Air Force Academy. He placed an order for one tonne of mulch sheets.

The caller later demanded payments to complete vendor registration, initially asking for ₹11 which was refunded with ₹22. He then instructed the company to transfer the purchase order amount of ₹2,26,549 to an account in Indian Overseas Bank, claiming the money would be refunded. No refund was made, and the firm realised it had been cheated.

The victims filed online complaints and received acknowledgement numbers from the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. Police confirmed that the accused used multiple phone numbers and email IDs, including sahilkumar854755@gmail.com and ministryofdefencedepartment05@gmail.com.

Cyber crime officials said investigations are underway to trace the accused and freeze the fraudulent bank accounts.