Cyber police save ₹82.55L of reputed Tardeo school

Central Cyber police saved ₹82.55 lakh of a school in Tardeo from Cyber frauds in a 'Man-in-the-Middle' scam. The fraudsters targeted the school to transfer ₹87.26 lakh abroad.

MUMBAI: The Central Cyber police have managed to save ₹82.55 lakh of a reputed international school in Tardeo which was tricked by Cyber frauds into sending ₹87.26 lakh to them by using the ‘Man-in-the-Middle’ modus.

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The police are trying to identify the fraud\s involved in the scam and suspect that he or they might be sitting abroad and targeting the school. “The timely efforts of the police saved a large chunk of the defrauded money, and an amount of ₹82.55 lakh has been credited back to the school’s bank account,” Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police, crime branch, said.

According to the police, the school had entered into a ₹1.74 crore contract with UAE-based firm Euro Phone Acoustics, for supplying construction material for their cafeteria and the firm had shared its authentic email ID and account details with the school authorities for banking transactions. The accused created an email ID resembling the company’s email ID and sent an email to the school, requesting the school to not deposit any amount in the bank account details of which were provided to them earlier. They, instead, requested the contract money to be deposited into an account at Wells Fargo Bank, USA, said a police officer.

The school management accordingly transmitted an amount of ₹87.26 lakh to the fraud account from its account in Axis Bank on March 1. After the remittance message was received from their bank on March 11, the school authorities informed the company and its concerned officers. The officers promptly replied stating that they had not received any amount when the school management realised that they had been cheated.

“They had become a victim of ‘Man-in-the-Middle’ attack. A member of the school staff immediately approached us and accordingly, an offence was registered,” said an officer from Central Cyber police station in Worli.

“After conducting a preliminary technical investigation, the cyber police immediately contacted the concerned banks and all intermediaries, and the amount of ₹82.55 lakh was frozen while in transit. Due to timely intervention, we saved a substantial part of the defrauded money. This amount has been returned to the school,” said Nalawade.

Citizens should take precautions to avoid a ‘Man-in-the-Middle’ attack type of cyber fraud and the computer equipment firm should be protected and updated from time to time by advanced technology.

In the attack, a perpetrator positions himself in a conversation between two users —either to eavesdrop or to impersonate one of the parties, making it appear as if a normal exchange of information is underway and eventually direct payments to his/her account. “Before making any transactions, citizens should verify the email IDs and bank details specified in the contract,” Nalawade added.