• Fraudsters forge email headers to make messages appear as if they come from a trusted source.
• Victims receive fake emails requesting urgent financial transactions or sensitive information.
• Commonly used in Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams.

1. IT Consultant Duped via Email Spoofing (2024)

Steps of the Fraud:

1. Spoofed Email Received:
   • An IT consultant in Pune received an email that appeared to be from a colleague, requesting assistance in purchasing gift vouchers.
2. Unverified Purchase:
   • Trusting the email’s legitimacy, she purchased 183 gift cards totaling ₹9.8 lakh and sent the details to a contact number provided in the email.
3. Realization of Fraud:
   • Upon later discussing with her actual colleague, she discovered that he had never sent such an email.
4. Reporting the Incident:
   • The victim reported the incident to the cyber police, leading to an investigation into the email spoofing case.