New Delhi: The Delhi police has arrested four hackers for digitally shoplifting vouchers worth about Rs 92 lakh of an e-commerce company by hacking its payment gateway through data tampering.
A complaint was registered by Voucha Gram India at the Hauz Khas police station alleging that its website was hacked and vouchers around Rs 1 crore were digitally shoplifted through data tampering of payment gateway “PayU”, on December 30. A case of cheating and relevant provisions of IT Act was registered on the complaint.
A special team including ACP Rajender Pathania and SHO Hauz Khas Sanjay Sharma was formed to crack the complex cyber offence that went through voluminous data procured from various online shopping portals and loss was pegged at Rs 92 lakh.
During investigation, the team went through relevant IP addresses, e-mails and phone numbers, and managed to trace the prime accused, Sunny Nehra (23), a BTech drop-out. He was picked up from a five star hotel in Gurggram and put through sustained interrogation, said Ishwar Singh, DCP (South).
“We tracked Sunny through his facebook and putting mobile phones on surveillance that he purchased from redeeming the vouchers of the website,” said a senior police official. Information provided by him led to arrest of his three associates Azad Chaudhary (19), Prakhar Agarwal (19) and Tejveer Sheroran (18). Azad is also a BTech dropout, while Sheoran is a BCA student, he said.
All the four accused, including Nehra, had developed online associations with hackers in the country and abroad and were involved in hacking for money by breaking weakly encrypted e-commerce portals.
Nehra had learnt from one of his hacker friend that PayU, a leading payment gateway, was suffering from vulnerability and could be tested for data tampering. They managed to hack the online systems, including the payment gateway and indulged in manipulating cash backs by enhancing their value, using same gift card again and again, placing online orders without any actual payment and making small payments, said the officer.
The digital money siphoned off by them was used on living a luxurious life and buying sophisticated proxy servers, virtual private networks, high end laptops used by them.
The e-vouchers digitally shoplifted by the accused were spent also in five star hotels, air tickets, and renting expensive cars to go to parties and hotels with their girl friends, he said. “The prepaid mobile phone Sunny was using had balance of Rs 43,000. He was also looking for potential customers to sell out the mobile phones and other gadgets he purchased redeeming vouchers fraudulently,” added the senior police official.
Police has recovered a laptop used for high level programming, with 256 GB RAM and capable of supporting hacking software, and latest I-phones and pads.
Investigation in the case is progressing with analysis of data and logs of recovered equipment to detect and establish other cyber crimes and digital shoplifting committed by the gang, he added.
