Cyber criminals swindle $377K from MNC as client

Posing as a client, online fraudsters convinced finance executives of a multi-national company to transfer 3.77 lakh USD to an account they operate.

In his police complaint, Ramesh Ramachandran, Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of TMEIC Industrial Systems India Private Limited, said his company received an email from a client Sanil Electric Company Limited saying their bank account has been changed.

The email came from [e-mail] and [e-mail] from 01/11/2018 to 29/11/2018.

The email noted that the company bank account has been changed and the amount to be deposited should be to a new bank account HANDELS BANK IBAN NO: SE97600000000555087891, Blasieholmstorg, 11, Stockholm, 106 70, Sweden.

Without verifying the details directly with the client, company executives remitted $3,77,016.50 USD based on the email information. But the executives were shocked to learn that the email was not sent by Sanil Electric Company Limited.

After alerting the top executives of the company, Ramachandran filed a complaint with the CID cybercrime wing seeking a detailed probe and recovery of the money.