Police have cracked a cyber fraud case involving the misappropriation of ₹57.60 lakh from the bank account of a UK resident, Ramandeep Grewal, who holds an account with the HDFC Bank
A bank official along with four others, held by Ludhiana police for allegedly withdrawing ₹57 lakhs from a account which belongs to an NRI. They forged his credentials using a technique called email spoofing (technique used in spam and phishing attacks to trick users into thinking a message came from a person or entity they know or trust. In spoofing attacks, the sender forges email headers so that client software displays the fraudulent sender address).
After receiving a complaint from the victim, the police successfully retrieved ₹17.35 lakh from the arrested suspects. Additionally,₹7.24 lakh was frozen in the accused’s bank accounts.
The Ludhiana Police Commissioner, Mandeep Singh Sidhu, disclosed that this criminal group operated in multiple states, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Punjab.
Their scheme involved stealing bank data and defrauding unsuspecting individuals. Ramandeep Singh Grewal, an NRI, reported the fraudulent withdrawal of ₹ 57 lakh from his three HDFC Bank accounts. This prompted an investigation led by Sidhu.
During the inquiry, it was uncovered that Sukhjit Singh, a relationship manager at HDFC Bank, sold Grewal’s bank information to Kumar Luv for ₹14 lakh. They also created fake email accounts for Grewal and registered his mobile number under the name of Vakeel Singh from Faridkot. Subsequently, they linked his accounts to these fake emails and withdrew the funds.
The arrested individuals include Kumar Luv from Gaya, Bihar, Neelesh Pandey from Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, Abhishek Singh from Greater Noida, and Sukhjit Singh from GK Vihar Extension, Ludhiana.
Two other accomplices, Kiran Devi from Ballabgarh in Faridabad, Haryana, and Sneha from Threekey, Ludhiana, are still evading capture.
An FIR was filed at Sadar police station under various sections, including 420, 120-B, 506 IPC, and 66-C, 66-D of the Information Technology Act.
The police investigation has yielded significant results, including the recovery of cash totalling ₹17.35 lakh, the freezing of ₹7.24 lakh, an Apple MacBook, eight ATM cards, and four mobile phones. These findings highlight the gravity of the case.