Chennai:
While traders are concerned over the increasing cases of fraud by an
international hacking syndicate, the Central Crime Branch of Greater
Chennai Police has advised traders to check the veracity of all invoices
before making payments on line.
According
to sources in the CCB,an international crime syndicate intercepts the
emails of export and import traders based in Chennai, manuplate the
invoices and siphons off the money. The CCB has already got 6 complaints
from traders, who have lost Rs.40 lakh.
" When a purchase invoice is being sent to a supplier with details of
the products that the trader needs, the supplier will send back the
details of consignment despatch and payment details back to the trader.
The crime syndicate, which enters the scene here, hack these mails,
change the payment details and add a bank account that they
clandestinely operate. The trader, without cross checking, will deposit
the money to the account number mentioned and the payment is gone," a
senior CCB official told dt Next. " They realise the fraud only when the
supplier contacts them for payment," the official added.
He said the crime syndicate appears to be ' efficient ' in forging
invoices and letter heads of these trading firms. " They are also expert
in phishing as they duplicate the sites and mail boxes so that the
communication between parties involved in the transaction lands in the
mail boxes of the syndicate," the official added. " Earlier, they used
to operate from within the country. Now they have shifted abroad and we
are unable to track the IP addresses as most of them are in Africa," he
said.
How the fraud is committed ?
The
fraudsters sitting in remote corners of the world hack the emails of
trade partners. Once the mail is hacked, they alter the invoices and
bills attached with the mail and forge new ones. Then they provide a
bank account used by them.
The
fraudsters also duplicate websites and mail boxes of trading companies
to spy on the communication. Once they zero down on a possible high
value transaction, they hack the mails sent between the trade partners.
( Chennai, Sunday, January 31, 2016 dtNEXT on Sunday, complimentary with Daily Thanthi )
courtesy : M.P.Subrahmanian.
