Mumbai police salary accounts with Axis Bank hacked

Money withdrawn from ATMs in Greece

At least 15 personnel of the city police have found their Axis Bank salary accounts hacked into and the money withdrawn, it appears, from ATMs in Greece.

The matter has been considered serious enough for the state's director-general of police to discuss with Axis; a team led by a deputy commissioner of the force is probing. Axis has set up a team, too. A case has been registered at the Colaba police station.

In all, 37 accounts have been found hacked. The total amount debited fradulently is Rs 15.47 lakh, of which Rs 2.5 is from the salary accounts of 15 Mumbai policemen.

"Axis Bank has assured return of the money to the police personnel through the insurance scheme," a city police official told Business Standard.

Axis' spokesperson said: "A small number of our customers' accounts (less than 50) have been impacted through transactions at compromised ATMs in Mumbai, belonging to multiple banks. We have reversed the impact in all such customers' accounts with immediate effect, to ensure they are not inconvenienced. We are undertaking a full investigation into the incident and are working closely with law enforcement officials in this regard. We wish to assure our customers that Axis Bank stands committed to protecting their interests and that we have the necessary systems to ensure the same."

Cyber expert Vijay Mukhi said it was a case of cloning, wherein the hackers succeeded in copying the magnetic stripe placed on the back of an ATM card and also the PIN. "The hacker must have sold it to somebody who has withdrawn the money from Greece," he added.

Mukhi suggested ATMs be upgraded to the use of chip-based cards, which cannot be cloned. Further, banks should focus on location tracking.