Mumbai-based IT firm loses Rs 7 lakh in cyber fraud

An electronics company in Andheri east has been allegedly cheated of Rs 7 lakh in a cyber fraud using email spoofing. A FIR was registered at the MIDC police station based on the complaint of the 51-year-old accountant of the company.

Email spoofing is a technique used by cyber fraudsters where they send emails with a forged sender address and trick the recipient into believing someone known to them, like their client or business partners, has sent them an email. The technique is used for hacking accounts, sending malware or tricking people to send money.

According to the complaint, the company gets supplies from another company, based in Gujarat. It received an email purportedly sent by the Gujarat-based company asking it to send pending dues of Rs 7 lakh to a new account in regards to some issues with the old bank account.

The accused allegedly forged a cancelled cheque in the name of the Gujarat-based company and sent the complainant a scanned copy by email, making the complainant believe it was true.

The complainant made the payment and when the company was informed that no payment had been received and they never sent any emails to change the bank account, the complainant realized that he had been cheated.