Ghaziabad: The company needed raw material and in this regard, a deal was going on with a well-known UK company. Meanwhile, cybercriminals intruded between the two companies through phishing mail and transferred British currency (pounds) equivalent to Rs 1 crore, 5 lakh, 38 thousand, 832 to two accounts of ICICI and HDFC Bank. The payment was made in three instalments between June 6 and July 9, 2024, but the UK company did not receive the payment. When the owner of the Automotive Test Systems company tried to get confirmation of payment from the UK company, then he came to know about this. A case has been registered in the cyber police station on behalf of the company.
Account details were asked to be changed in the phishing mail
In the complaint given by Automotive Test Systems, it was told that we were talking to the UK company from which we are importing goods. They had received the mail in the name of that company. There was a very slight difference in the name of the sender, which could not be caught. Through this mail, we were asked to change the account details for payment for the deal with our company. In the same mail, information of two accounts of ICICI and HDFC Bank was sent and payment was asked to be made in them. These accounts were also in the same name as that company. Later, on matching, it was found that there was only one alphabet difference in the email ID.
The payment was made on these dates
In the complaint given by the company to the Cyber Police Station, it was told that this amount was sent to the accounts of ICICI and HDFC Bank in three instalments. The first payment of 47,732.32 British pounds was made to the account of ICICI Bank on June 6, 2024. The second payment of 31,212 pounds was made to the account of HDFC Bank on June 27. While the third and final payment of 22,637 British pounds was made on July 9, 2024. All three transaction IDs along with account numbers have also been provided to the Cyber Thana police.
Suspicion arose when payment was demanded in another account
Ramanathan Srinivas, a partner in Automotive Test Systems, says that he once suspected why the company was asking for payment in other accounts, but the accounts given in the mail were also in the name of the same company and seeing the name of the company, he ignored this and made the payment. Later, when he contacted the company to confirm the payment, the ground slipped under his feet. The company had not received the amount. Now a case has been registered in the cyber police station on behalf of Automotive Test Systems. The police is investigating the matter.
What is phishing mail?
Phishing mail is used by hackers to deceive people. Their mail ID is similar to the name of a well-known company and people easily believe them and become victims of fraud. The same thing happened with Automotive Test Systems. Their deal was with a reputed company in Britain, so they did not suspect fraud and were duped of Rs 1 crore.