The Cyber Crime Wing of Greater Chennai Police has solved the mystery of swindling of money through online mode from Tamilnadu State Apex Cooperative Bank with the arrest of two Nigerian nationals in Uttam Nagar, Delhi. The duo gained access to the keyboard usage of the bank and monitored the texts and swindled ₹2.5 crore. They were nabbed by the police when one of them went to an ATM to draw money.
The police said last November, a representative from the bank lodged a complaint alleging that some people had stolen ₹2.61 crore from its account and security protocols had been compromised. The officers of Cyber Crime Wing registered a case and took up investigation.
A senior officer of the Cyber Crime Wing said: “We analysed all transactions of the bank, the call records of customers and staff. About 41 transactions were analysed and we found the money proceeds went to 32 bank accounts. In one of the transactions, we found the money was withdrawn from an ATM in Uttam Nagar and traced the accused who withdrew the money.”
A special team of police went to Delhi and nabbed Ekene Gowin, 37, in Uttam Nagar first and based on his information, nabbed his associate Augustine Chakwedo, 42, from a hideout. The two came to India from Nigeria two years ago on a business visa posing as representatives of a fake export/import company. Since August 2022, they have been monitoring several cooperative banks across the country by sending phishing email.
Phishing mail
The police sources said normally computers with core banking system at bank branches were not connected to internet to avoid virus attack. The accused managed to track and find one CBS unit in Mannady that had an internet connection and sent a phishing mail.
The senior police officer said: “The criminal had accessed the bank account using a keylogger software. They had sent phishing mail to the bank staff and made them install the tool. After installing the keylogger software, they had accessed all credentials of the bank account and passwords. They easily swindled ₹2.61 crore. We have issued notices to 15 banks and retrieved ₹1.05 crore and are in the process of recovering the remaining amount.”
The duo was produced before a Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dwaraka and brought to Chennai after obtaining transit remand. Two were remanded to judicial custody after being produced in a court.
The police said the Nigerians had transferred the money back to a Nigeria-based bank to be invested in crypto currency while keeping a minimum amount to pay rent, food and other expenses. When one of them went to withdraw the money, he was traced and caught by the police.
