Himachal Pradesh bank hit by Rs 11.55 crore cyber fraud

The Himachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank was hit by cyber fraudsters after it hacked the bank server through the mobile phone of a customer.

According to reports, the fraudsters hacked the mobile banking application of a customer of the bank's Halti branch in Chamba district and withdrew the amount of Rs 11.55 crores, which was later transferred to 20 different bank accounts.

The State Cyber cell stated that the incident occurred on May 11 and 12, but the matter only came to light on May 14 as, due to a bank holiday, the bank was not able to receive the transaction report from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

After bank authorities became aware of the fraud by going through the transaction report received on May 14, they immediately lodged a complaint at the Police Station, Sadar in Shimla, which was then transferred to the Cyber Police Station, Shimla.

Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Cybercrime Mohit Chawla confirmed the report and said that a team from the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) from Delhi is on its way to Shimla to assist in the investigation.

He said that further details of the case will be unearthed after a thorough investigation by the CERT-in team and the cyber commandos of the state.

Meanwhile, the bank authorities have assured the customers that their money with the bank is safe and stated that the amount transferred through the transactions has been put on hold.