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2018, the year that was: Maharashtra SIT still clueless regarding mastermind of Cosmos bank fraud
Police inspector Jayram Paigude of Cyber Cell stated that a 17,500-page chargesheet against nine accused in the Cosmos Bank online heist case has been submitted before the court
The Maharashtra Government’s special investigative team (SIT) led by deputy commissioner of police (cyber and economic offences wing) Jyotipriya Singh, continues to be clueless about the mastermind of the Rs 94.42 crore Cosmos Bank online fraud which took place on August 14.
In its bid to hunt the main conspirator(s), the SIT, constituted by the State government, has written to their counterparts in foreign nations, seeking forensic logs and digital evidence to be able to reach the main accused. The SIT is expecting more arrests in 2019, officials said. They are hopeful that the digital trail will gradually lead them towards the main architect of the scam.
On August 14, the first of the two malware attacks had hit Cosmos Bank on its online banking system during which cyber fraudsters created a proxy switch to bypass the regular banking system and all payment approvals were diverted using the proxy switching system.
In the initial attack on August 11, stolen card details were used to siphon approximately Rs 80.50 crore through transactions in 28 countries, while in the second attack, the hackers siphoned off Rs 13.92 crore via Swift transfers.
The fraud included at least 12,000 Visa card transactions and on the same day, approximately, Rs 2.5 crore was withdrawn through 2,800 debit card transactions in India at various locations.
Milind Kale, bank chairman said that both the Visa and Rupay debit cards fell victim to a malware attack on the ATM switch located at the bank’s headquarters on Ganeshkhind road. No sooner than the suspicious transactions were reported, the bank immediately shut its VISA and Rupay Debit Card Payment System. We are fully co-operating with the police and all the compliances of the Reserve Bank of India and forensic audit have been done to ensure utmost security of the deposits ,” he said.
Police inspector Jayram Paigude of Cyber Cell stated that a 17,500-page chargesheet against nine accused in the Cosmos Bank online heist case has been submitted before the court. A criminal conspiracy to distribute cloned debit cards to withdraw over Rs 97 lakh from 58 ATMs, including 52 in Kolhapur and six in Ajmer, was hatched in Thane .The accused received 109 cloned cards of account-holders from accomplices in Thane and used their Kolhapur and Rajasthan modules to withdraw the cash on August 11 and 13, Paigude stated.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the State Government , has written to different foreign nations and agencies in getting back the siphoned money which has landed in foreign nations or havens. The SIT has sought forensic logs and digital evidence from different countries which will help the SIT reach the main accused.
Also, the cyber cell is getting more details of the involvement of the arrested accused in similar economic crimes when they struck different banks in the country.
Seven countries including Turkey, Bulgaria, Japan and United Kingdom are assisting the special investigation team (SIT), probing the Rs 94 crore online theft at Cosmos bank headquartered in Pune. Similarly banks from France, Hong Kong and Latvian nations are providing assistance to the Pune police’s cyber cell to investigate the case.
Seven persons have been arrested in the case so far.The SIT suspects that the online theft was committed by hackers based in multiple places internationally.
The SIT has, so far, recovered about Rs 6 lakh from genuine bank customers referred to as “accidental beneficiaries” of the cyber attack as they had received additional sums in their account during the online attack.
WHAT HAPPENED
•On August 14, the first of the two malware attacks had hit Cosmos Bank on its online banking system during which cyber fraudsters created a proxy switch to bypass the regular banking system and all payment approvals were diverted by the proxy switching system.
•In the initial attack on August 11, stolen card details were used to siphon approximately Rs 80.50 crore through transactions in 28 countries, while in the second attack, the hackers siphoned off Rs 13.92 crore via Swift transfers.
Positive developments in the case
•A 17,500-page chargesheet against nine accused in the Cosmos Bank online heist case has been submitted before the court.
• The Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted by the State Government , has written to different foreign nations and agencies to recover the siphoned money which has landed in foreign nations or havens. It has also sought forensic logs and digital evidence from different countries to help trace the main accused.
•Seven persons have been arrested in the case so far.
Poor Progress?
The SIT led by Deputy commissioner of police (cyber and economic offences wing) Jyotipriya Singh, continues to be clueless about the mastermind of the Rs 94.42 crore Cosmos Bank online fraud which took place on August 14.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2019
While the mastermind of online theft is still at large, SIT officials expect to make more arrests, especially from other parts of the country and abroad. The SIT has written to 29 nations asking for their help to arrest other suspects. In the legal front, SIT has already filed chargesheet in the case and the next step will be to frame charges.
