Server of Nainital Bank’s Noida branch hacked, ₹16.71 crore siphoned off using bank manager’s log-in details
Prima facie, it was found that the money was siphoned off after accessing the bank manager’s ID and password
Server of Nainital Bank’s Noida branch in Sector 62 was allegedly hacked by some unidentified suspects who siphoned off ₹16.71 crore in 84 transactions between June 16 and June 20, 2024, said senior police officers on Monday, quoting a complaint by the bank’s IT manager. A case of fraud was registered in the matter on July 10, they said.
Prima facie, it was found that the money was siphoned off after accessing the bank manager’s ID and password, said the police.
“Complainant Sumit Kumar Shrivastava, 35, of Shahpura in Bhopal, who is posted as IT Manager at Nainital Bank in Sector 62, Noida, told us that during routine reconciliation, a difference of ₹3 crore was found and further inspections unearthed the fraud,” said Vivek Ranjan, assistant commissioner of police, Cyber Crime Branch.
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Shrivastava in his complaint said, “During routine reconciliation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) settlement of RTGS account on June 17, a difference of ₹3 crore was found. Thereafter, the RTGS team verified the transaction in CBS (core banking system) -- a back-end system that processes daily banking transactions -- with the SFMS (structured financial messaging system) server and found that the balances in CBS and SFMS were correctly tallied.”
Suspecting a technical error for showing up a difference of ₹3 crore, the bank official decided to wait a day. But on June 18, when a similar issue popped up and a difference of around ₹2 crore was found, the matter was escalated on June 19, said the FIR.
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“On June 20, when the RBI asked the bank about the huge transaction, the bank official checked, and it was found that ₹16.71 crore was siphoned off through 84 transactions. The amount was transferred to 89 bank accounts of different banks,” said Ranjan, adding that when the bank sent e-mails to other banks to freeze these accounts, in which the amount was credited, ₹69.49 lakh was returned.
Subsequently, the matter was reported to the bank functionary and the case was lodged at the Cyber Crime branch police station. “On a complaint by the victim, a case under sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty) of the Indian Penal Code and 66C (fraudulently or dishonestly make use of the electronic signature) of the IT Act was registered on July 10,” said Ranjan, adding that the initial investigation revealed that the bank manager’s ID and password were hacked and money was withdrawn using these log-in credentials.
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“We are checking when and how many times the bank manager’s ID was used to log in and complete the transactions. A team has also been formed to investigate the case,” said Ranjan.
HT tried to contact Sumit Kumar Shrivastava, IT manager of Nainital Bank, but he did not respond to calls and messages.
Further probe is underway in the matter, said police.