After con artists change their email address, HAL loses Rs 55 lakh in cyber fraud.
A prominent maker of defense and aerospace equipment, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), was allegedly the victim of cyber fraud when con artists posing as a US-based business deceived it into paying Rs 55 lakh.
A prominent maker of defense and aerospace equipment, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), was allegedly the victim of cyber fraud when con artists posing as a US-based business deceived it into paying Rs 55 lakh.
According to a Mint story, HAL realized the payment had been made to the incorrect account, which led to the discovery of the fraud.
The investigation claims that cybercriminals emailed HAL's Kanpur unit pretending to be PS Engineering Inc., a legitimate US-based dealer. A minor but significant change in the email address was unnoticed by officials. One of the two "e" letters from the word "engineering" in the email address was eliminated by the crooks.
The scammers used a phony email address, jlane@ps-enginering.com, in place of the actual, gledbetter@ps-engineering.com. The cash was paid to the crooks' account rather than the legitimate business because the manipulated email also included fictitious bank account information.
HAL had been in touch with PS Engineering Inc. in May 2024 to purchase airplane parts. After presumably listening in on the chat, the scammers sent a phony email requesting $63,405 (about Rs 55 lakh). HAL transferred the funds because they believed it to be a sincere request.
When PS Engineering notified HAL that they had not been paid, the scheme was exposed. HAL discovered the email address was phony after verifying.
An investigation is in progress.
On March 13, HAL Kanpur's additional general manager, Ashok Kumar Singh, lodged a complaint with the Cyber Police. Authorities are investigating whether the fraud was committed by an Indian organization or a US-based corporation.
The scam occurred due to a small variation in the email address. A fake email address was used in place of the legitimate one, with a single letter 'e' missing. This tiny difference made it difficult to detect the fraud, and it was used to trick the concerned parties.
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