Bengaluru: A corporate payment almost vanished into a cyber-criminals’ maze when fraudsters hacked an email trail and diverted a whopping Rs 2.2 crore meant for a business transaction. However, a swift and timely action by the victim on the national cybercrime helpline (1930) helped Bengaluru police foil the digital heist.Sleuths from Central Crime Branch (CCB) will head to Madhya Pradesh in search of the cybercriminals who allegedly siphoned off the funds from a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company.Police were able to trace the money to a bank account in Madhya Pradesh, which has since been frozen.The complaint, filed by Mahesh Babu K from Rajajinagar, north Bengaluru, said Group Pharmaceuticals, a city-based company, was engaged in business with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad. “Group Pharmaceuticals had supplied goods to Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and was expecting a payment of almost Rs 2.2 crore. However, on Nov 3, hackers allegedly gained unauthorised access to the email communication between the companies and sent fraudulent emails to Dr Reddy’s finance team, impersonating Group Pharmaceuticals officials and providing fake bank account details. Consequently, Dr Reddy’s transferred the money on Nov 4 to the fraudulent account,” the complaint stated.In a statement, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories clarified: “The incident involved impersonation of a vendor’s email address with the intent to redirect a legitimate payment. With timely detection and swift action by our teams and banking partners, the funds have been frozen, and there has been no financial loss to the company or the vendor.”
