Hackers steal Rs 42 lakh from Hyderabad techie, demand ransom to give back access to bank account

Hyderabad: It is not just companies, govt organisations and institutes that are targetted by hackers, even individuals are vulnerable to such attacks. Recently, a software professional residing in the IT corridor, lost Rs 42 lakh after his accounts were hacked. The incident happened in March.

The victim, who invests in the US stock market and has multiple bank accounts, found that someone was illegally making wire transfers from his accounts without his knowledge. Multiple withdrawals were also made from his bank accounts.

Apart from taking control of his bank accounts, the hackers also deleted his WhatsApp account from his phone without his knowledge.

Realising that his identity had been stolen and his accounts and device hacked, the victim approached the Cyber Crime Police who registered a case on the charge of cheating and violation of the Information Technology Act.

The complainant told the police that the transactions were made without any OTP or call verification. The victim realised that his accounts were hacked after he received emails saying that he had applied for credit cards and opened new bank accounts.

The hackers also changed the credentials of his accounts and demanded a ransom to give back access. It is learnt that no specific amount was mentioned.

By taking control of the victim’s US trading account, nearly Rs 36 lakh was stolen through wire transfers. Using his different online banking accounts, Rs 7 lakh more was withdrawn by transferring the money into different bank accounts.

On learning about this, the victim alerted the bank authorities but it was of little use. The entire fraud took place in less than 10 days. Now cyber crime officials are trying to trace the beneficiaries through the bank accounts into which the victim’s money was transferred.