Mumbai Police Recover ₹82.55 Lakh Lost in ‘Man in the Middle’ Attack
Mumbai, 12th April 2024: Mumbai police successfully recovered ₹82.55 lakh lost by a prominent international school in a ‘man in the middle’ (MITM) online attack. The attack took place between February 23 and March 16 when the school started the process of purchasing materials for building a cafeteria.
In an MITM attack, an attacker intercepts and relays messages between two parties, deceiving them into believing they are directly communicating with each other. In this case, the school had contracted with a UAE-based firm and received its bank details as part of the deal. However, an unidentified individual created a similar email ID and provided the school with details of a US-based bank, which the school assumed belonged to the UAE firm.
The school transferred ₹87.26 lakh to the US bank account and soon realized something was wrong. The school complained to the Central Region Cyber police station, and a case was registered against the unidentified person under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act.
The police contacted the nodal officer of the bank, which led to the recovery of ₹82.55 lakh. The official advised citizens and businesses to regularly update their systems to prevent such attacks and to verify email IDs and bank details before making transactions.
