Mumbai: Scamsters trying to dupe school stopped in tracks

Tried to rob school of over Rs 80 lakh through phishing attack; police intervene timely

The central cyber cell froze the fake bank account used to dupe a school of fraudulent transactions and saved Rs 82.55 lakh. The scammers were allegedly attempting to dupe a school under the pretext of constructing a cafeteria. The accused used a man-in-the-middle attack, a form of cyber-attack, to dupe the school.

“When two companies are in the process of placing a contract, the alleged accused takes advantage of either party’s website and creates a phishing website to dupe the company. This type of attack is known as a man-in-the-middle attack,” said DCP (crime) Datta Nalawade. The incident came to light when the Tardeo-based school’s representative approached the police to register an FIR.

According to the police, from February 23 to March 16, the school had placed a contract with Europhone Acoustics, a UAE-based company, for the construction of the cafeteria. Once the contract was placed, the school sent an email on the official email ID of the said company. “The alleged accused manipulated the email ID of Europhone Acoustics; it appeared to be original and then instructed the school to send money to an account. The school sent R87.26 lakh to the accused,” said an officer.

When the school contacted the company and informed them that they had paid the money, Europhone Acoustics denied receiving the payment, and the school realised that they had been duped. “They approached the police station, and we registered an FIR; our timely intervention led to the freezing of Rs 82.55 lakh,” said the DCP. The police booked an unknown person under sections 419 (Cheating by Personation), 420 (cheating), and other relevant sections of the IPC and the IT Act.

How to protect oneself from a man-in-the-middle attack
1. Ensure the company’s computer equipment is protected and updated with advanced technology at regular intervals.
2. Conduct transactions only after double verification of the email ID.
3. Contact the company in case of sudden changes in the email ID and bank details, apart from the contract of the said company.
4. Check email IDs, account numbers, and IFSC code during transactions.
5. Call on 1930 in case of any fraud.

Rs 82.55 lakh
Amount the cops managed to save

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