Maharashtra: MSEDCL staff get calls from 'top boss', asking for Rs 50,000

MUMBAI: Fraudsters impersonating Vijay Singhal, an IAS officer and chairman and managing director of Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL), made WhatsApp calls to its staff claiming to have landed in trouble and seeking Rs 50,000 urgently.
The Nirmal Nagar police in Bandra (East) where an FIR was registered on Thursday learned that the fraudster has kept the IAS officer's name as WhatsApp profile and photo as a display picture to gain trust.
The DPand profile name are displayed on 'True Caller' when the fraudster called MSEDCL staff. "The case was registered after employees suspected something amiss. We have sought details from the mobile service provider to track the caller. We are probing whether any MSEDCL staff has fallen victim to the fraud. Though we didn't receive any complaints about any staff losing money," said an officer.
The case was registered on Friday after the police received a complaint from MSEDCL on August 3. When one of the junior executive staff received the call asking to transfer Rs 50,000, he got suspicious. The staffer then circulated the details in the internal staff WhatsApp group and found at least 15 staffers from the Kalyan circle had received similar calls. "The fraudster has kept CMD Singhal's DP on WhatsApp and has saved his number in the name of the officer so that it will be displayed on True Caller and no one will doubt the genuineness," MSEDCL staffer Nitin Kale told TOI.
Kale tried to call on the number and even tried to talk through video call but the fraudster did not respond and this raised suspicion. "Immediately, I took a screenshot of the WhatsApp call and circulated the same on Kalyan circle staff WhatsApp group and found out at least 15 of them had received similar calls but no one transferred money. The caller has been chatting with majority of the staffers and demanded money," Kale's FIR said.
A police officer said they suspect the fraudster may have come across contact numbers of all MSEDCL staffers from its annual diary. "The MSEDCL diary has contact details of all circles' officials," said the officer.