Ahmedabad/Mumbai, April 18 (IANS) A cyber fraud network that allegedly generated and siphoned off more than Rs 7.34 crore by exploiting a vulnerability in a cooperative bank’s core banking system has been uncovered, with four people arrested in Gujarat and Maharashtra, officials said on Saturday.
The arrests were made by the Cyber Centre of Excellence in Gandhinagar in connection with the hacking of the computer system of The Bhavnagar District Co-operative Bank Ltd.
A case was registered after investigators found that bank accounts had been arranged and used to route cybercrime proceeds, with funds transferred and withdrawn through a wider network.
Using human intelligence and technical analysis, the team arrested three accused from Ahmedabad and one from Maharashtra.
The accused have been identified as Adnan Sheikh, 24, a resident of Fatewadi on Sarkhej Road; Rubina Sheikh, 31, of Guptanagar in the Vasna area; Sushilkumar Meghwal, 32, of Rakhial; and Kishor Prabhakar Pardeshi, 43, a Home Guard from Mulund West in Mumbai.
According to investigators, an examination of the accused’s mobile phones led to the recovery of details linked to 42 additional bank accounts.
Checks on the cybercrime portal indicated that the group was involved in more than 15 cybercrime cases across the country, with an estimated fraud of around Rs 4 crore linked to those offences.
Cases have been registered in Andhra Pradesh (1), Gujarat (2), Haryana (2), Karnataka (5), Maharashtra (1), Tamil Nadu (1), Uttar Pradesh (2), and Punjab (1).
Police said the fraud stemmed from a vulnerability in the bank’s Core Banking Service (CBS) software, which had reportedly been exploited in 14 to 15 banks nationwide.
The accused allegedly selected four older accounts in the Bhavnagar bank, changed the registered mobile numbers to their own, and activated the accounts.
They then generated a virtual balance of approximately Rs 7,34,91,682 in these accounts and transferred the funds into 135 different bank accounts to disperse the money.
Officials said the accused obtained bank accounts from individuals by offering financial incentives and used them to move illicit funds.
Authorities have so far frozen Rs 2,04,33,121 (Rs 2.04 crore) of the defrauded amount and seized four mobile phones.
Police said, “If any person or agent asks for bank accounts or SIM cards on rent or under any pretext, inform the nearest police station or cybercrime authorities.”
They added, “Do not give your bank account, ATM card or cheque book on rent to any unknown person under any temptation.”
Further investigation is ongoing into the wider scale of the fraud.
–IANS
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