Bizmen don’t realise accounts are hacked
A Rajkot-based businessman had deposited money into the account of his trading counterpart in Mumbai, after he received his bank account details through an email. But neither realised that a cyber criminal had hacked into their email accounts to get the money transferred to his account, and both the businessmen accused each other of cheating; Mohamed Thaver reports.
A Rajkot-based businessman had deposited money into the account of his trading counterpart in Mumbai, after he received his bank account details through an email. But neither realised that a cyber criminal had hacked into their email accounts to get the money transferred to his account, and both the businessmen accused each other of cheating.
It was only after they approached the cyber crime cell did they realise they were cheated by a cyber by a cyber criminal.
On most occasions, the two parties – sender and receiver of the payment - are busy blaming each other for siphoning off the money. It is only when the two sides realise that there could be something more to the crime that they approach the cyber police.
An officer from the cyber police requesting anonymity said that when one company asks the other company if they have not received a payment, the second company assures them that a payment has been made and they would receive it soon. “When the payment is still not made, the two sides get into a blame game. It is only after they come down to checking the bank account details do they realise the bank account number to which the money has been transferred does not belong to either of the parties," the officer said.
He added, “By the time they check the account where the money has been transferred, they would find that the money has been withdrawn and the account closed. This is when they realise they have been victims of cyber criminals.” But neither the Rajkot-based businessman nor his Mumbai counterpart were willing to accept their accounts had been hacked.
“We called both of them to our office, and asked one to draft an email containing a bank account number, and sort code, and sent it to the other,” said the officer. "While normally it should not take more than a minute for an email to reach the receiver, it took 20 minutes for the email to arrive. And the account number and sort code in the email had been altered. That is when they realised they had been cheated.”