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In a recent man-in-the-middle (MITM) cyber-attack in Mumbai, three people cheated a business company out of Rs 1 crore. The accusers allegedly used a fake email address, pretending to be a company that deals in construction and technology. The case has been registered in the local south region cyber police station, and police have arrested the three individuals.
The case was brought to the police by the complainant’s company, which deals in buying scrap materials. In its pleading, the company stated that it got a contract for purchasing scrap and received an email from the seller company. The seller asked the company to send Rs 1 crore to two different accounts to initiate the scrap delivery, according to the police report.
How did the complainant find out about the man-in-the-middle cyber attack?
The complainant’s company previously purchased scrap material from the same company and even transferred Rs 4 crore to complete the business transaction. However, the complainant didn’t receive the scrap material for this transaction. Upon further investigating, the seller confirmed that it never received the payment. The banks also confirmed that the two accounts used for the transaction did not belong to the original seller.
The complainant’s company registered a complaint against the fraudulent activity. The investigation officer, ACP Ramchandra Lotlikar, and a team of cybercrime specialists SPI Devraj Borse, PSI Shweta Dhok, and PC Madhukar Lohar, tracked down the original bank account owners to whom the complainant transferred the amount.
The investigation led the team to three suspects — Bhumeshwar Sharma, auto driver Hemant Soya, and Abhay Patiwar. The cyber squad found that an amount of Rs 1 crore was split and transferred to two different accounts — the first with an individual, Bhumeshwar Sharma, and the second under a company named Ashok Enterprises. The police were able to freeze Rs 39 lakh in Jaipur alone.
