CYBERCRIMINAL SPOOFS EMAIL, STEALS ₹1.81CR FROM COMPANY

MUMBAI: An unidentified cybercriminal allegedly duped a private company in Mumbai of ₹1.81 crore by using the email spoofing method wherein the fraudster created an email address similar to the company’s official email id and asked their client company to transfer the money to another bank account.

According to the Tardeo police, the 27-year-old complainant’s father runs a company that supplies medicine packaging material to African countries. Last year, they had supplied the material to a company in Tanzania. The Tanzanian company had to make a payment of ₹1.81 crore to the complainant’s company. The cybercriminal somehow managed to get inside information about the two companies and that a payment was to be made to the complainant. The crime took place last November.

“The fraudster spoofed the email address of the complainant’s company and sent an email to the Tanzanian company. The Tanzanian company received the email which stated their bank account has been changed for some reason and money needs to be deposited in another bank account,” said senior police inspector Sanjay Surve of the Tardeo police station.

“The email spoofing method was used but it is not clear how the cybercriminal knew the inside information about the business deals between the two companies. We don’t know from where the cybercriminal has operated but we suspect he is from Tanzania,” said a police officer investigating the case.

After receiving the email, the Tanzanian firm deposited the money, which went into a bank account located in an African country. When the complainant’s firm asked the client for their money, they realised it had been sent to another bank account.

In November last year, the company gave a written complaint to the cyber police and local Tardeo police. After conducting a preliminary probe, the Tardeo police lodged an FIR a few days ago.