Vijayawada computer geek steals Rs 3 crore via payment gateway in Hyderabad, held

The modus operandi resorted to by Sriram is that he first creates disposable email IDs and later uses open software to look for vulnerabilities in software and then access the main database server.
Image used for representational purpose only.
Image used for representational purpose only.

HYDERABAD: Using his extraordinary skills in hacking into payment gateway software, a computer geek from Vijayawada siphoned off Rs 3 crore in three years and blew up the money online gaming and leading a lavish lifestyle.

Vanam Sriram Dinesh Kumar's dream run with the computers abruptly ended when the police laid their hands on him on Wednesday.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner CV Anand said: "With the help of an ethical hacker, we identified the culprit. After the payment gateway which had been taken for a ride lodged a complaint with us, we registered a case and in our investigation, we found that it was Dinesh Kumar who spirited away the large chunk of money. He focused mostly on payment gateways as reconciliation of money transaction is not done as frequently as it is in banks."

Dinesh Kumar, using his skills, locates the vulnerabilities in payment gateway software and through them, he reaches to the core servers to siphon off money. The modus operandi resorted to by Sriram is that he first creates disposable email IDs and later uses open software to look for vulnerabilities in software and then access the main database server.

He transferred an amount of Rs 52.9 lakh from PayG nodal account and transferred it into a virtual bank account in 40 to 50 transactions to avoid the software sending out alerts. The entire amount was initially invested in bitcoin and later it was converted into cash.

He used numerous SIM cards, credit cards, and bank documents for the purpose. Police apprehend the accused from Vijayawada and recovered Rs 18 lakh cash from him.

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