The Bengaluru police have launched an investigation into a major cyber fraud case in which hackers allegedly intercepted email communication between city-based Group Pharmaceuticals and Hyderabad-based Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, diverting a payment of ₹2.16 crore to a fraudulent bank account.
According to an FIR filed at the Cyber Crime Police Station, Bengaluru City, the case was reported by Mahesh Babu K, a senior executive at Group Pharmaceuticals. The company stated that it was due to receive a payment of ₹2.16 crore from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories for goods supplied as part of regular business transactions.
However, on November 3, hackers reportedly gained unauthorised access to the official email exchange between the two companies. They then sent fraudulent emails to Dr Reddy’s finance and accounts team, posing as representatives of Group Pharmaceuticals and providing fake bank account details for the pending payment.
As a result, on November 4, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories transferred the amount of ₹2.16 crore to the fraudulent account.
The complaint requested immediate police intervention to freeze the fake account and recover the diverted funds.
Following the complaint, a case was registered on November 5 against unknown cyber criminals under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, as well as Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a senior police official confirmed.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the fraudulent account was traced to Vadodara in Gujarat. Police stated that the stolen funds were quickly transferred into several sub-accounts to obscure their trail.
Authorities have since frozen the primary account that initially received the money and are working closely with banks to track and recover the misappropriated amount. The investigation is ongoing.
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