MUMBAI: Cyber criminals managed to hack into the ATM server of Pune-based Cosmos Bank, one of the oldest cooperative banks in India, and siphon off Rs 94 crore. According to the police complaint filed by the bank, hackers waged a malware attack on the ATM Switch (server) at the bank’s headquarters at Cosmos Tower in Pune and accessed information of VISA and RuPay debit card holders.
Using the stolen data, the hackers carried out a total of 14,849 transactions. Of these, 12,000 were related to VISA debit cards through which Rs 78 crore was siphoned off. RuPay debit card holders lost Rs 2.5 crore through 2,849 transactions.
Suhas Gokhale, managing director, said customers need not worry because their money has not been compromised. “The malware attack was not on the core banking system in which customers’ accounts are maintained. Customer accounts or balances are not affected at all. CBS of the bank is fully safe,” he said.
How the hackers did it
Hackers stole Cosmos Bank customers’ data by infecting the bank’s ATM server with a malware. They then cloned Visa and RuPay debit cards of the bank and carried out fraudulent transactions through 25-odd ATMs located in Canada, Hong Kong and a few in India. Visa and RuPay detected it and alerted RBI