E-Mail is not full proof

Chennai businessman falls prey to email scam

A Chennai-based businessman nearly lost Rs 2 crore after falling victim to a sophisticated cyber scam. Fraudsters sent a spoofed email to Agrigo Trading Private Limited, tricking the company into transferring the large sum to a fake account, according to a report.

The fraudsters manages to breach the legitimate business communications, sending a fraudulent email that appeared to be from the company’s supplier. The email, from the address kunal1113@gmail.com, continued an existing email thread, making it seem genuine. It included a pro-forma invoice for a payment of $ 2,38,500 (about Rs 2 crore) and detailed bank account information for the supposed transfer.

Believing it to be legitimate, the company’s general manager transferred the amount via NEFT from their State Bank of India (SBI) account in Chennai to the specified Regions Bank account in the US on 26 September.

The scam was uncovered when the businessman followed up with the real supplier the next day, 27 September, only to realise the email was fake and the payment had been sent to fraudsters.

Realising they had been scammed, the company immediately filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. A case was quickly registered by the State Cyber Crime Investigation Centre under sections of the IT Act 2000 and BNS 2023.

Cybercrime team takes quick action

The cybercrime team moved fast, coordinating with the State Bank of India and the Regions Bank in the US. With support from the Ministry of Home Affairs and I4C (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre), they traced the fraudulent transaction. Thanks to their swift efforts, the entire Rs 2 crore was successfully recovered and returned to the company’s account.

This case underscores the growing risk of cybercrime, both in personal and business transactions. In this case, the businessman was fortunate enough to get his money back, but many others may not be so lucky. Always verify the authenticity of emails, especially if large sums are involved.

Noida man loses 8 tickets worth Rs 72,600 after sharing PNR

Noida-based software engineer Nishith Chaturvedi reportedly almost lost his eight IndiGo Airlines tickets worth Rs 72,600. For his family from Thiruvananthapuram to Delhi from Indigo Airlines.

On the day of the flight, January 7, when he tried to web check-in, the auto-assignment of seats was not available, so he was required to pay extra money for the seats.

He sent a DM to IndiGo’s official X-handle asking why he was required to pay an additional amount for all eight seats.

A few minutes later, he received a response from the airline’s customer support executive, who identified herself as Diyashi.

She asked Chaturvedi to share Flight’s PNR number, which he shared. He got an email from Cleartrip at 1:38 AM, mentioning all eight tickets were cancelled.

He reached out to IndiGo Airlines customer care service. The airline told him that his tickets were cancelled.

The software engineer insisted that he had not cancelled the tickets, and the airline mentioned that possibly Cleartrip had cancelled the trip. Cleartrip representatives mentioned that tickets have not been cancelled from their end.

Thereafter, IndiGo informed Chaturvedi that his registered mobile number and email ID had been changed by someone, and they are investigating the case. The Airline also agreed to a refund in case any lapse was detected from their end and asked him to book fresh tickets.

Nishith Chaturvedi eventually booked new tickets for Delhi. Fortunately, he got his refund at around 4 am.