Greater Noida: ₹5.58L siphoned off from woman’s bank account

Cybercriminals stole ₹5.58 lakh from a Greater Noida teacher's bank account, prompting a police investigation into the hacking incident.

Noida Cybercriminals allegedly siphoned off ₹5.58 lakh from the bank account of a 38-year-old government school teacher of Greater Noida West, despite her claiming that she does not use internet banking or the Unified Payment Interface (UPI), police said on Sunday.

Preliminary investigations revealed that she might have clicked on a malicious link on her smartphone, said Vijay Gautam, station house officer of the cybercrime branch. (Representational image)

The cybercrime branch police registered a case on November 29 under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act against unidentified suspects, officers said. 

The victim, Surbhi Singh, a resident of Sector 1, Greater Noida West, reported that her bank account, opened in a public sector bank, was hacked during the intervening nights of November 12 and 13. In the FIR, Singh said, “The bank account was hacked and the yearlong savings of ₹5.88 lakh were syphoned off.”

Singh, a government school teacher, said her account’s internet banking services were not activated. 

“I never used internet banking, Unified Payment Interface (UPI), or an ATM card, but still my bank account was hacked, and my hard-earned money was deducted through net banking,” Singh mentioned in her FIR. Police suspect that the breach in security was limited to Singh alone, officers said, adding that they are trying to ascertain the exposure of the alleged hack.

The victim further claimed that she did not receive SMS alerts about the transactions and discovered the fraud only upon visiting the bank.

Preliminary investigations revealed she might have clicked on a malicious link on her smartphone, said Vijay Gautam, station house officer of the cybercrime branch. “Our investigation is underway to find the modus operandi of the suspects,” he added. 

In a separate incident, police recovered ₹16 lakh from a 60-year-old retired bank official who had been duped out of ₹64 lakh between August 20 and October 3. The victim, residing in a high-rise in Sector 78, was lured by a fraudulent stock trading firm, said police. 

According to the police, the victim initially invested ₹1 lakh after receiving a message from the firm on August 20. Over time, she was coerced into investing more to withdraw her purported profits. By October 2, she had deposited ₹63.45 lakh. The fraud came to light when she was asked to deposit ₹3 lakh more, which led her to suspect foul play, police said. 

Station house officer (cybercrime) Vijay Gautam said, “The money will be returned to the victim after court procedure, and around 10 bank accounts have been frozen. All these accounts are opened in South India.” 

Amid reports of such cybercrimes, Noida cybercrime police have urged residents to remain vigilant and avoid clicking on suspicious links or investing without proper verification. Victims can report such incidents via the cyber helpline number 1930 or the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).