Three held for ₹92.89 lakh cyber fraud targeting Faridabad firm

The suspects allegedly used around ₹50 lakh of the money to buy gold ornaments from showrooms in Delhi and Noida, while the remaining amount was withdrawn through cheques and ATMs

Three men were arrested from Noida and Delhi for allegedly hacking into the email account of an automobile parts manufacturer in Faridabad and diverting ₹92.89 lakh in payments from a buyer to a fraudulent bank account, police said on Tuesday.

The suspects in custody on Tuesday. (HT Photo)

The suspects allegedly used around ₹50 lakh of the money to buy gold ornaments from showrooms in Delhi and Noida, while the remaining amount was withdrawn through cheques and ATMs. Police said the money was distributed among members of the gang.

The suspects were identified as Vikrant, a resident of Greater Noida; Naveen Kumar alias Amit, a native of Mainpuri; and Tanveer Ahmed, a native of Badaun, both in Uttar Pradesh. Naveen currently lived in Uttam Nagar and Tanveer in Jaitpur, both in Delhi.

Vikrant and Naveen were arrested from Noida and Delhi, respectively, on Saturday and remanded in police custody for nine days after being produced before a court on Sunday. Tanveer was arrested from Laxmi Nagar metro station in Delhi on Monday and remanded in police custody for four days on Tuesday.

Police said a resident of Sector 7E in Ballabhgarh owns a company in the Sarurpur industrial area that manufactures plastic components for automobiles. The firm supplies parts to various manufacturers and receives payments through online bank transfers.

Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said the firm noticed last month that it had not received payments from branches of a Gurugram-based buyer.

“The manufacturer contacted the buyer and learnt that an official email was sent from his firm alerting them that the 15-year-old beneficiary bank account had been changed for future payments. Believing the mail to be genuine, as it originated from the company account, the buyer transferred payments amounting to ₹92.89 lakh to the new account between September 3 and September 21,” he said.

Investigators said the money was transferred to a savings account opened in the name of Asif Hussain at a nationalised bank branch in Delhi in January this year.

The manufacturer subsequently checked the company’s email communications and payment records and discovered that no such request to change the beneficiary account had been authorised by the firm.

An FIR was registered at the Cybercrime (Ballabhgarh) police station last week. Investigators found that the company’s email account had allegedly been hacked and a fraudulent message sent to the buyer instructing it to transfer future payments to the new account.

Yadav said the investigation into the beneficiary account led police to Vikrant, who had allegedly gained access to the account opened in Asif’s name and used ₹50 lakh to purchase gold ornaments from several showrooms in Delhi and Noida. The remaining amount was withdrawn through cheques and ATMs.

Investigators said Naveen and Tanveer had allegedly forged Asif’s Aadhaar and PAN cards and used Vikrant’s photographs on the documents to purchase the gold.

Police said they were searching for at least four more suspects, including a Nigerian national, believed to be involved in the fraud. Efforts were also under way to recover the gold and cash.