Mumbai: A‘man-in-the-middle’ (MiTM) fraud of Rs44.43 lakh could be stopped just in the nick of time, thanks to the swift action of the cops as well as the complainant. The MiTM is a type of fraud in which the con enters a conversation taking place on a virtual platform by exploiting technological loopholes. Subsequently, the fraudster pretends to be a participant of the conversation and eavesdrops on sensitive data like banking credentials, etc.
Briefing about the case, the police on Saturday said that the complainant is a director of a city-based textile company and he had transferred money to the fraudster as he pretended to be his partner. He realised the scam after noticing that the amount was sent to a different account number than that of his partner.
Immediately, he dialed the 1930 cyber helpline number and informed them about the matter. The businessman even registered an online complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal.
The cyber crime unit contacted the bank from which the complainant had transferred the amount, and asked it to stop the process.
As the complaint was made during the golden hour, the police said they could successfully stop the transaction and freeze the account which would prevent further fraudulent transactions.
The money has been returned to the complainant, said the police.
What is man-in-the-middle fraud?
It's a type of fraud in which the con enters a conversation taking place on a virtual platform by exploiting technological loopholes. Subsequently, the fraudster pretends to be a participant of the conversation and eavesdrops on sensitive data like banking credentials, etc.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
