A member in-charge of cyber security of a prestigious national security body was in for a rude shock when he found he was defrauded of `19 lakh electronically in an apparent hacker attack.
In a well-planned crime, the police said the hackers had even blocked the SIM card of 65-year-old Sanjay Govind Dhande, cybersecurity member of the National Security Advisory Board, so that he could not receive alerts from the bank when his account was being fraudulently operated. Mr Dhande, a former IIT-Kanpur director, has filed a complaint with the local police after a total amount of `19,01,073 was siphoned off from his ICICI Bank account between September 6 and 9. The police’s cyber cell has slapped Section 467 (forgery of valuable security), 420 (cheating) and various sections of IPC and IT Act in the case.
“I filed a complaint with the police on September 10 and later, after investigation, they filed an FIR. I was not at all knowing (sic) that this fraud was being carried out on me and only after the bank, after witnessing some unusual movement in my account, called us on our alternate number and we were informed,” Mr Dhande said.