Conwoman who escaped from train after arrest in Rs 4 crore fraud rearrested

“We were on the suspect’s trail, but she constantly changed her contact numbers and location. Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar had reviewed the case and we started working on some fresh leads under the guidance of DCP Vivel Masal. We sent our teams to New Delhi and to Siwan in Bihar. Based on the important intelligence obtained by these, we got to know that she was hiding at Gopalganj in Bihar,” said an officer from the Cyber crime police station.

“We sent a team to Lohar Patti village in Gopalganj where we had traced her location. Our team members used disguises to blend in with the local population to keep a watch on her movements, establish her identity and zero in on her. The team members stayed on a nearby farm for a day and waited for the opportune moment on the night of December 15. When the team finally went there to arrest her, Saniya made one more attempt to escape by climbing up the roof and jumping out. However our team chased and arrested her. She was brought to Pune on transit. A court in Pune has remanded her to police custody till December 23,” the officer added.

When contacted, DCP (Cyber and Economic Offences) Vivel Masal said, “Saniya who goes by the alias Gudia is a Class 10 dropout. She hails from Gopalganj area and comes from a weak economic background. She started working for a cyber criminals’ racket possibly after coming in contact with some of them in the same area. Probe suggests that she worked in the upper layer in the cyber racket and was primarily tasked with getting mule accounts and managing them. We are now probing her links and trying to identify her accomplices and racketeers in the upward chains.” She has told officers that she was good at studies and is an avid dancer.

Her arrest in February was in connection to a case of Pune city’s biggest whale phishing scam that took place in the last week of January this year. A prominent city based real estate company was swindled to the tune of Rs 4 crore by cyber criminals who posed as the company’s chairman and managing director and tricked the firm’s senior accounts officer into making 18 large transactions to fraudulent bank accounts. A First Information Report in the case was registered at the Cyber Crime police station by the Deputy General Manager (Accounts) of the real estate company which has several key development projects in the city under its belt in the commercial and residential sectors.

Unlike typical phishing scams that target a broader set of possible victims, whale phishing — also known as spear phishing attacks or CEO scams — focus majorly on specific individuals, often top officials of companies that handle finances. The term whale phishing emphasises the targeting of influential figures. This type of fraud became prevalent in the United States during the late 2010s. In addition to directly targeting high-profile individuals, there is a concern that perpetrators may manipulate employees to disclose sensitive information. This poses a greater risk than mere financial loss, as divulging critical information could have far-reaching consequences on company operations, according to officials. Since July last year, the Pune City and Pimpri Chinchwad police have together registered close to a dozen cases whale phishing attacks. In one such case, Pune headquartered global vaccine major Serum Institute of India was swindled of Rs one crore. In another case registered in February, a real estate company lost Rs four crore.