What Is Boss Scam?

A boss scam is a new form of cyberfraud in which fraudsters pose as the top management of companies to steal funds from the company bank accounts. The scam exploits the trust of employees working in companies. The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) published an advisory on July 17, 2026, cautioning people about this new fraud.

Sebi said it had recorded a rise in cases in which criminals trick employees to transfer corporate funds through the boss scam. It has now asked listed companies to urgently check their fund transfer mechanisms through a strict manual calling process to ascertain the veracity of fund transfer requests.

What Is Boss Scam?

• A scammer contacts an unsuspecting employee of a company through a social media application or through a mobile text or voice message posing as a top executive of the company, typically a chief executive officer or a managing director.

• The victims are typically the finance officers or other senior employees who are authorised to process payments online.

• By impersonating the top management, scammers create a false sense of urgency or confidentiality, pressurising unsuspecting employees into transferring the funds.

• The fraudster then asks the employee to urgently transfer company funds feigning inability to access them citing reasons, such as travel, being out of station, or others.

How Does Boss Scam Work?

• Scammers typically use two distinct methods. Under the first method, they impersonate top executives using deepfakes created through artificial intelligence (AI). The second route involves sending malicious files to the employees.

• Fraudsters use AI deepfakes during video calls to mimic a top executive of the company to create trust and urgency, and then ask the employee to immediately transfer money to their accounts.

• At times, scammers may also impersonate the top brass of a company on social media and send a normal looking zip file to an employee.

• This zip file typically contains malicious executable software designed to alter contact lists and hijack user accounts across all infected company desktops.

How To Protect Yourself From a Boss Scam?

• Sebi has advised corporate employees to confirm suspicious financial requests by calling their seniors over secure telephone lines before executing any financial transaction to prevent financial or other data losses.

• Employees have also been urged to not instal executable files without checking the identity of the sender, even if the message appears to come from a known contact.

• Employees have also been asked not to open suspicious or malicious executable files and log out of inactive WhatsApp sessions on computers.

• Sebi has urged companies to report such scam incidents by calling the helpline number 1930 or by visiting the national cybercrime reporting portal, cybercrime.gov.in.