Nainital Bank, located in Noida Sector 62, has fallen victim to a massive cyber fraud. Cybercriminals successfully hacked the bank’s Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) channel and transferred Rs 16 crore 1 lakh 83 thousand 261 to various accounts. Hackers transferred this huge amount in 84 separate transactions. The fraudulent activities were discovered during the reconciliation of the bank’s balance sheet.
The revelation came to light when Sumit Kumar Srivastava, the IT Manager of Nainital Bank, filed a complaint at the cyber crime police station. The irregularities were first noticed during the regular reconciliation of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) settlement RTGS account on June 17. A discrepancy of Rs 3 crore 60 lakh 94 thousand 20 was identified, prompting the RTGS team to scrutinize the transactions within the bank’s Core Banking System (CBS) and the Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS) server.
During the investigation, vulnerabilities were discovered in both the CBS and the SFMS. Initially, the RTGS team presumed it to be a case of delayed RTGS messages and decided to wait until the following day for further examination. However, on June 18, it became evident that the balance sheet still did not align, despite the settlement report in SFMS matching the bank’s CBS. This raised suspicions of more profound issues, and during this period, some unusual activities were observed.
A more thorough investigation conducted on June 20 revealed that an overwhelming 85 percent of the transactions with discrepancies were conducted in cash. The subsequent examination confirmed the heart-stopping amount of Rs 16 crore 1 lakh 83 thousand 261 had been fraudulently transferred from the bank to various accounts in 84 separate transactions. The scale of this cybercrime is unprecedented, leaving authorities astounded.
Inspector Vijay Kumar, in-charge of the Cyber Crime Police Station, has confirmed the registration of a case and the formation of a dedicated team to investigate this immense fraud. The police are actively collaborating with multiple agencies to uncover the full extent of the cybercrime and to track down the individuals responsible for this audacious act. The trail of breadcrumbs left behind by the hackers will be meticulously followed to ensure justice is served.
