Fraudsters use customer’s cell phone to hack Himachal co-op bank server, steal Rs 11.55 crore
A zero FIR was filed with the Sadar police station in Shimla by the bank’s Chief Information Security Officer.
Fraudsters allegedly withdrew Rs 11.55 crore from the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank on Saturday. (File)
FRAUDSTERS ALLEGEDLY used a customer’s mobile phone to hack the Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank server and withdrew Rs 11.55 crore, officials said on Saturday. The money was transferred to 20 accounts using NEFT and RTGS channels.
The transactions were done on May 11–12 but, due to May 13 being a holiday, the matter came to light on May 14 after the bank authorities received the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) transaction report.
A zero FIR was filed with the Sadar police station in Shimla by the bank’s Chief Information Security Officer and the case was transferred to the Cyber Police Station.
The fraudsters allegedly hacked the server through a mobile phone application of a customer, who holds an account at the bank’s Hatli branch in Chamba district. The case has been transferred to the police’s cyber crime branch.
Though sources said that through the compromised device, the culprits accessed the HimPaisa mobile application and entered the bank’s server, Cooperative Bank’s Managing Director Sharwan Manta said fraudsters hacked the internet banking system of the bank.
“We have identified the banks wherein the siphoned money was transferred and blocked all the accounts in which money was transferred from our bank. Our money was cyber secured and fully insured so nobody is at a loss — neither banks nor customers,” Manta said, adding that this is for the first time that the bank’s internet security was breached.
The investigation is being jointly conducted by the cyber crime team and Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in). A team from CERT-in is expected to reach Shimla to conduct a detailed probe at the bank’s data center.
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