HAL loses ₹55 lakh in phishing scam; police seek Interpol

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) recently lost ₹55 lakh to a phishing attack. In response, local police are urgently collaborating with Interpol and other agencies to catch the fraudsters. They have sent important details, including email exchanges and information about a bank account linked to the scam, to aid the investigation. The fraud was carried out by scammers pretending to be a US company. They tricked HAL's Kanpur division into paying for fighter jet parts that were never delivered. The scam was uncovered when HAL noticed the parts had not arrived after placing an order in May 2024. HAL's additional general manager, Ashok Kumar Singh, filed a formal report after realizing a payment had been sent to a fake account in New York. The criminals had created an email address that closely resembled that of the real supplier by only changing one letter in the domain name. Police officials, including Additional DCP Anjali Vishwakarma, are examining the possibility of an insider threat. They are investigating if someone within HAL or its partner company may have helped the criminals. Experts from the Indian authorities are also involved in looking into how the fraudulent email accounts were set up. Additionally, police have contacted the US internet service provider (ISP) that registered the fake domain. They suspect a connection to the scam might exist there. The investigation team is also working with Indian organizations that specialize in cyber crimes to help prevent future incidents like this.