Maharashtra Cyber saves Rs 90L lost by travel firm in 'whale phishing' attack

Maharashtra Cyber managed to solve five online fraud cases involving an amount of Rs 147 crore in the last 48 hours including Rs 90 lakh lost by a Bhiwandibased travel agency in a whale phishing attack a senior police official said on Friday reported news agency PTIA whale phishing attack is one in which online fraudsters pose as trusted sources in an organisation to dupe highlevel executives to gain access to funds or informationThe official said the accountant of the travel agency was contacted by the accused through WhatsApp posing as the firms owner reported PTIThe accountant was contacted from a new mobile phone number and was asked by the cyber fraudster to transfer Rs 90 lakh urgently for a business project He did so in a single transaction into an account provided by the accused However the accountant soon realised he had been duped and registered a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal the official said reported PTIThe Maharashtra Cyber immediately contacted all stakeholders including banks and financial intermediaries and managed to freeze Rs 90 lakh he added reported PTIIn the last 48 hours Maharashtra Cyber successfully solved five such cases of cyber fraud involving Rs 147 crore We ensured freezing of 100 per cent of the amount The process of refunding money to rightful owners is underway the official saidFraudsters squeeze Rs 1250 lakh out of software engineerSeeking divine intervention for overcoming insecurities of life cost dear to a Mumbaibased software engineer who paid Rs 1250 lakh to cyber crooks disguised as astrologers who exploited his vulnerabilities to extort money officials said reported PTIThe victim a resident of the BKC area had downloaded the DevineTalk app dedicated to astrology to find solace in life unaware that sharing personal issues is going to leave him poorer financially and frustrated reported PTIAfter downloading the app the techie spoke to a spiritual guide identified as Nishant in January He was suggested to perform a ritual to heal his life by paying Rs 6300 police saidAfter brooding for a week the victim finally convinced himself to perform the ritual and contacted Nishant again who told him that one bade Maharaj would perform the kriya or the procedure reported PTINishant facilitated the conversation between the software engineer and Bade Maharaj through a conference call as per the FIR reported PTIThe fraudsters then started showing their true colours with Bade Maharaj demanding Rs 15300 more to start the ritual and Rs 28000 under a different pretext The victim met these demands by paying up electronically police said reported PTIWhen the victim demanded proof that rituals were performed by Bade Maharaj the latter called up in the night and demanded an additional Rs 20000 saying some rituals are incomplete police saidWhen the software engineer hesitated the Bade Maharaj told him that incomplete rituals could harm his lifePolice said Nishant again facilitated a conversation between the techie and Bade Maharaj By this time the victim had ended up paying Rs 241 lakhHowever the fraudsters didnt stopThey convinced the software engineer that incomplete rituals would harm him at deeper levels and extorted more moneyThe victim pulled various resources including a credit card and even borrowed from private money lenders to pay upHe collectively paid more than Rs 1220 lakh over six days in January an official said reported PTIAs the accused demanded more money the victim sought help from his friends who told him that he was taken for a ride by cyber fraudsters in the name of astrology reported PTIThe software engineer then contacted the customer support of the Astrology app where a woman assured him about finishing the rituals and also offered three meditation sessions for free the official said reported PTIMeanwhile the techie checked customer reviews of DevineTalk and realised that many people had complained about fraud practicesHe lodged an FIR on Monday with the Cyber Police Station leading to the registration of an FIR under various sections of the BNS and Information Technology ActWith inputs from PTI