Nagpur firm loses Rs 34.50 lakh after cyber fraudsters hack supplier's e-mail thread

Nagpur: Cyber criminals have siphoned off Rs 34.50 lakh by hacking the e-mail of a private company. The cyber police have registered a case.

Abhay Pandey is an HR manager at a private company in Butibori. The company needed a machine for its operations and was to buy a roll forming machine on August 21. Pandey contacted Divine Machines Pvt Ltd by e-mail for this and placed an order for a machine priced at Rs 1.15 crore.

Divine Machines asked for 30 per cent of the amount to be sent in advance, to be deposited in an account with Bank of Baroda.

On September 30, a second e-mail arrived on the old e-mail thread of Divine Machines. It said that, because the bank account had changed, the money should be sent to Canara Bank. Trusting this, Pandey sent Rs 34.50 lakh by RTGS.

Later, when the company was informed of the RTGS transfer to the new account, its official denied that it had any account with Canara Bank. The official also said that fraud had been committed by hacking their company's e-mail, and that they had not asked for money to be deposited in any new account. The fraud then came to light.

Pandey lodged a complaint with the cyber police. The police have registered a case under fraud provisions and the IT Act and begun an investigation. They are tracing the accused on the basis of the bank account.