By Ria Jain
A 22 year old Saniya Mustakim Siddique known as Gudiya, was arrested for whale phishing from Faridabad in February 2024. She was charged for a Rs.4 crore scam from a well known realty firm of Pune.
Unlike other scams, whale phishing or CEO scams is a cyber fraud that targets high stature people, primarily financial executives. The fraudulent act as CEOs and lure the executives into releasing confidential information or clear payments. Over the past two years, Pune has seen a surge in such cases but the case of Gudiya remains the biggest scam of Pune City.
Gudiya, from the humble streets of Gopalganj, was not only good in studies but also a passionate dancer. She got involved in the racket after meeting some men from her area. These criminals impersonated as the chairman and managing director of a prominent realty firm of Pune, tricking its senior executives in approving 18 transactions. After the first FIR filed by the Deputy General Manager, the investigators arrested Gudiya, who at the time was handling the mule accounts for the criminals. On February 18, 2024, while being brought back to Pune, Gudiya escaped from the Duronto Express in Kota.
Although the coordinated search of Rajasthan Police did not bring any initial success, a cyber crime team led by Inspector Swapnali Shinde continued their ground level investigation. In December 2024, Gudiya was located in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar, but by the time the police reached, she had already fled. After getting more confirmed leads from the intelligence team of Bihar, the police reached Gopalganj, where they located her and realised that she had been changing numbers, identity and locations.
Disguised as locals of Lohar Patti village, the police watched the suspect until confirmed. Finally on December 15, the police made a move to arrest her. Being the one to not give up easily, she made a final attempt to escape by jumping off the roof. She was chased and finally arrested. She was brought back to Pune and sent to police custody although the trial remains pending.