Man arrested for duping firms by hacking emails of executives

Police have arrested a 34-year-old member of a gang after an over 4 years of a hunt for duping firms by hacking emails of senior executives of multinational companies. The accused was a resident of Valsad district in Gujarat.

New Delhi:A 34-year-old member of a gang, which used to allegedly hack into email accounts of senior executives of multinational companies and use their ID to ask the firm's accountant to transfer money to its own bank account, has been arrested after an over four-year hunt, police said on Monday.

The accused Tejas Yashwant Parmar, a resident of Valsad district in Gujarat, was arrested from sector-53 in Gurgaon where he was presently living as a tenant, they said.

Police said a probe was initiated after a complaint was received on July 12, 2016 from a man named Amarnath Shukla, who works as an Account Manager in a reputed Optical firm.

In his complaint, Shukla alleged that he received an email from the official ID of the company's director, asking him to transfer Rs 5,90,000 in the account of Parmar.

Accordingly, he first transferred Rs one lakh in the Parmar's account but later got to know that the account of the company's director had been hacked.

A case under section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Sadar Bazar police station.

"As part of the investigation, police obtained details of the bank account in which Shukla was asked to transfer the money to and learnt that it was registered in the name Parmar, with a Virar West, Mumbai address.

"However, the mobile number registered with the bank was found to be not working," said Anto Alphonse, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North).

A raid was conducted at his Mumbai address but he was not found, he said.

The mobile number of the accused was then obtained through his PAN card details. Finally, with the help of call detail record, his location was traced and he was arrested from sector-53, Gurgaon, he added.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he is an active member of a gang of fraudsters. They used to hack into the email accounts of senior executives employed in the multinational companies and thereafter, used their IDs to send emails to the firm's accountant, asking him to transfer an amount in a particular bank account, the DCP said.

PTI Report