BENGALURU: The Cyber Crime Police of the Bengaluru Police have launched a probe into a cyber fraud case where hackers allegedly infiltrated the official email communication between city-based Group Pharmaceuticals and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Hyderabad, successfully diverting a payment of Rs 2.16 crore to a fraudulent account.
However, in a statement, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories clarified that with timely detection and swift action by the company’s teams and banking partners, the funds have been frozen and that there was no financial loss.
According to an FIR registered by the Cyber Crime Police Station, Mahesh Babu K, a senior executive with Group Pharmaceuticals, has filed a complaint in this regard. The company stated it was expecting a payment of Rs 2.16 crore from Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories for goods supplied.
However, on November 3, hackers allegedly gained unauthorised access to the email communication between the two companies and sent fraudulent emails to Dr Reddy’s finance and accounts team, impersonating officials of Group Pharmaceuticals and providing false bank account details, the FIR read. “As a result, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories transferred Rs 2.16 crore on November 4 to the fraudulent bank account,” it added.
The complainant requested the police to immediately freeze the fraudulent account and recover the misappropriated amount. “The fraudulent account was traced to Vadodara in Gujarat,” the police said.
“The incident in question involved impersonation of a vendor’s email address with the intent to redirect a legitimate payment,” Dr Reddy’s Laboratories claimed.
Based on the complaint, a case was registered on November 5 against unknown cyber fraudsters.