HAL loses Rs 55 lakh in cyber fraud after scammers alter email address

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), a leading defence and aerospace equipment manufacturer, became a victim of alleged cyber fraud when scammers, pretending to be a US-based company, tricked it into making a payment of Rs 55 lakh.

 

The fraud was discovered after HAL realised the payment had gone to the wrong account, according to a report by the Mint.

 

According to the report, HAL's Kanpur branch received an email from cybercriminals posing as the genuine US-based dealer, PS Engineering Inc. Officials did not notice a small but crucial difference in the email ID. The scammers removed one of the two “e” letters from the word “engineering” in the email address.

 

The original email ID was gledbetter@ps-engineering.com, and the fake one used by the fraudsters was jlane@ps-enginering.com. The altered email also contained fake bank details, causing the payment to be sent to the scammers' account instead of the real company.

 

In May 2024, HAL had contacted PS Engineering Inc. to buy aircraft parts. The fraudsters, likely monitoring the conversation, later sent a fake email demanding $63,405 (about Rs 55 lakh). Thinking it was a genuine request, HAL transferred the money.

 

The scam came to light when PS Engineering informed HAL that they had not received any payment. After checking, HAL realised the email ID used was fraudulent.

 

Investigation underway

 

Ashok Kumar Singh, additional general manager at HAL Kanpur, filed a complaint with the Cyber Police on March 13. Authorities are investigating whether the fraud was carried out by another US-based company or an Indian entity.

 

DCP Crime Anjali Vishwakarma confirmed to NDTV that a minor difference in the email ID led to the fraud. “Somewhere in the middle, the proper email was replaced with a fake one. The only difference was the missing letter ‘e’,” she said.