Ballari, Jan 24 (IANS): Cyber criminals have siphoned off Rs 2.3 crore after targeting a rural bank in Ballari district of Karnataka, said officials on Friday.

According to police, the incident was reported from the Ballari District Credit Cooperative (BDCC) bank in the limits of Hospet Town police station. The bank operates in the neighbouring Vijayanagar and Ballari districts.

The case has now been transferred to Ballari Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics (CEN) police station.

The preliminary investigations have indicated that the accused had targeted RTGS and NEFT transactions after managing to hack the system. The accused were able to change the account numbers and IFSC codes from XML files.

The police said the cyber crooks struck on January 10 when the cash transfers were made from the BDCC bank to the IDBI bank. The investigations have revealed that though the beneficiary names were not changed, instead of money getting transferred to their account, it was credited into 25 different bank accounts of various banks in different states in north India.

Sources stated that the fraud came to light after a series of complaints on January 10. Many branches of the BDCC bank have reported cases in this regard.

The authorities came to know about the cyber fraud on January 13. It came out in the investigation that the deposits of more than Rs 5 lakh have gone into other accounts.

The bank has suspended the RTGS/NEFT transfers following the online fraud coming to light. The authorities have filed an initial complaint with Hopset Town police station.

The police have registered ca ase under the IT Act and various sections of the BNS Act and investigating the crime.

An incident of cyber criminals conning a Japanese national and extorting Rs 35 lakh from him was reported from Bengaluru on December 27, 2024.

Hiroshi Sasaki, a 59-year-old Japanese national, has complained in this regard with the South East Cybercrime, Economic Offences, Narcotics (CEN) Crime police station.

A case of a state government employee falling victim to cybercriminals and being robbed of Rs 19 lakh after being digitally arrested for six hours in the Tumakuru district of Karnataka was reported on December 24, 2024. According to police, the accused had called the victim officer on the phone and introduced himself as a staffer from the Mumbai Crime Branch. The accused further charged that the money had been transferred illegally from his account.

An incident of a software professional losing Rs 11 crore after falling victim to digital arrest was reported from Bengaluru on December 23, 2024. According to the police, the cyber fraudsters disguised themselves as police officials from the Mumbai Crime Branch and committed the crime.