NRI email hacked, Rs 1.3 cr looted

MANGALURU: A Canada-based NRI has lost Rs 1.13 crore from his account with a bank in Manipal after hackers made their way into his email account and got the money transferred to two of their accounts overseas, according to a complaint lodged with the police.

The fraud was committed after hackers made their way into the NRI's personal email ID and sent mails to the Manipal Branch of Syndicate Bank asking for transfer of the money from his Foreign Currency Non-Resident Account ( FCNR), police said.

As per the complaint, the amount in his account with the Manipal bank was found to have been transferred to two accounts in Dubai National Bank and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank on January 15 and October 27 this year. Both the transfers were executed purportedly based on two email requests from the NRI, hailing from nearby Udupi and residing in Canada.

A transfer of $1,15,000 was made from his account to an account in Dubai National Bank and USD 70,000 to an account in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank.

The fraud was detected when the bank received another request from NRI's mail on November 13 asking to transfer money to a Bank of China account in Hong Kong. The bank officials then grew suspicious and contacted the NRI who made it clear that he had not made any such request.

The Syndicate Bank assistant general manager has complained to the Manipal police that an amount of Rs 1,13,42,937 was transferred to different accounts from the NRI's account by fraudulent means. Manipal police have started investigations.