A bank employee at a branch on Jangli Maharaj Road in Pune, Maharashtra, India, fell victim to a sophisticated cyber fraud scheme, losing ₹8.5 lakh. The fraudsters contacted the employee, posing as account holders and claiming an urgent transaction was pending. They provided fake account details to gain her trust, leading her to process the transfer. The scam was revealed when the actual account holder denied initiating any such request, prompting the bank to conduct an internal investigation. Pune's Deputy Commissioner of Police (Economic Offences Wing and Cyber Crime) Vivek Masal stated that the cyber cell is currently tracking the digital footprints of the criminals and is working to freeze the accounts that received the stolen funds. Investigators noted that the fraud relied on social engineering techniques, exploiting verification gaps rather than technical vulnerabilities. In light of this incident, officials are urging banks to implement stricter verification protocols for processing high-value transactions and to encourage staff to confirm requests directly with account holders, especially when received through informal channels.