Three men were arrested from Noida and Delhi for allegedly hacking into the email account of an automobile parts manufacturer in Faridabad and diverting ₹ 92.89 lakh in payments from a buyer to a fraudulent bank account, police said on Tuesday.
The firm supplies parts to various manufacturers and receives payments through online bank transfers. An FIR was registered at the Cybercrime (Ballabhgarh) police station last week. Investigators found that the company’s email account had allegedly been hacked and a fraudulent message sent to the buyer instructing it to transfer future payments to the new account. The remaining amount was withdrawn through cheques and ATMs. Efforts were also under way to recover the gold and cash.
The suspects allegedly used around ₹ 50 lakh of the money to buy gold ornaments from showrooms in Delhi and Noida, while the remaining amount was withdrawn through cheques and ATMs. Yadav said the investigation into the beneficiary account led police to Vikrant, who had allegedly gained access to the account opened in Asif’s name and used ₹ 50 lakh to purchase gold ornaments from several showrooms in Delhi and Noida.
Police said the money was distributed among members of the gang. Police said a resident of Sector 7E in Ballabhgarh owns a company in the Sarurpur industrial area that manufactures plastic components for automobiles. Yashpal Yadav, public relations officer of Faridabad police, said the firm noticed last month that it had not received payments from branches of a Gurugram-based buyer. Police said they were searching for at least four more suspects, including a Nigerian national, believed to be involved in the fraud.
Vikrant and Naveen were arrested from Noida and Delhi, respectively, on Saturday and remanded in police custody for nine days after being produced before a court on Sunday. Tanveer was arrested from Laxmi Nagar metro station in Delhi on Monday and remanded in police custody for four days on Tuesday.
