Mumbai cybercriminal hacks into firm’s bank account, steals ₹25 lakh
The cybercriminal transferred the money to accounts of different banks in Punjab, Kolkata, Delhi, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh
The NM Joshi Marg police, along with officials from the cyber cell, are investigating a case in which a cybercriminal hacked into the official bank account of a private company and diverted Rs25 lakh to eight bank accounts in different states across India.
According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the police on February 15, the firm — which deals in spare parts of machines used in the pharmaceutical industry — has an account in an India-based public sector bank established in Lahore in 1943.
The company used this account for all its transactions. The senior account manager in charge of the account would get text messages from the bank immediately after a transaction took place. He received eight messages informing him that Rs25 lakh had been transferred out of the account on February 9 around 11 am.
The cybercriminal transferred the money to accounts of different banks in Punjab, Kolkata, Delhi, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, said officials.
The company immediately contacted the Mumbai police, who helped them freeze the accounts into which the money had been deposited.
However, a police official said the bank was yet to inform them whether money has been withdrawn.
The police registered a case against the unidentified accused under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act. They have not been able to ascertain how cybercriminal managed to hack into the company’s account. The firm has not provided them with a list of suspects.
The police are considering two possibilities. They suspect that one of the company’s employees or former employees may have leaked information used to hack into the bank account. They are also looking into whether the suspect used forged documents to pose as the account holder and carry out the transactions.
The Mumbai cyber police recently cracked a case at Bandra-Kurla Complex, in which a cybercriminal forged a man’s Aadhaar card and used it to transfer the victim’s bank account from its Mumbai branch to Delhi. The accused changed the victim’s mobile number so he would not receive messages from the bank alerting him about the transactions. The fraud came to light only after the victim checked his bank statement.
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