Online bank fraud: Police suspect Andhra links


KOCHI: The police on Thursday started probe into the money swindling case in which a hacker had phished the online banking account of a doctor in the city and diverted `11.14 lakh to another account.
The police have identified that the duplicate SIM card of Dr Shabeer Khan of the Lakeshore Hospital was obtained from a mobile shop in Hyderabad.
The police have tracked all accounts of the fraudster to which the money from Dr Khan’s account had been transferred.
According to investigating officer Sunesh Babu, the money was transferred to 20 accounts in Secundrabad, some other cities in Andra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka and New Delhi. “We have identified the accounts and requested the respective banks to freeze them,” he said.
The police, after having examined the bank account number and the SIM card, suspect that the hacker would be a native of Andra Pradesh.  “We suspect him to be from Andra Pradesh, but we cannot confirm it now,” a Cyber Cell official said. The police had also quizzed Dr Khan about the incident. “We quizzed him to know if any person with whom he would have shared his password is behind the hacking. We also inquired whether he had opened any fake mails. But he guaranteed that no such things had happened,” said the police officials.
Meanwhile, Julius Samson, senior vice- president and head (Corporate Communication), Axis Bank, informed that the bank has put in place cutting-edge technologies involving multiple layers to secure the bank’s Interet banking facilities in compliance with regulatory guidelines.
The bank is looking into the complaint received from the customer and is cooperating with the investigative authorities, a bank release said.

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