A/c holders across State received messages of withdrawals on Sunday

In what cyber security experts in Bengaluru are describing as an “unprecedented” development in bank fraud, several hundreds of State Bank of Mysore (SBM) customers across the State lost money, with online fraudsters siphoning off money from their bank accounts.

Though no official figure could be ascertained, the quantum could run into several lakhs, as hundreds of customers have approached the SBM bank branches across the State with similar complaints.

While SBM officials were huddled in a meeting throughout the day, they were tight-lipped on the reason for the cybercrime that has rattled customers. On Monday evening, after much persuasion, a senior SBM official commented that the “matter has been settled”, without elaborating on how or what had happened with the bank’s system. Senior officials in the bank’s IT department did not answer calls from The Hindu .

As customers began being notified of withdrawals on Sunday when banks are closed, they barged into the branches on Monday as soon as business hours commenced. Bank officials had to pacify them and offered to return their money after receiving a handwritten complaint. Officials dealing with irate customers termed it a ‘technical error’.

The scamsters have siphoned off money through illegal transactions or e-commerce purchases made mainly from Gurgaon and Noida.

It is now suspected to be a case of online account hacking to which SBM account holders in Karnataka, mainly Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Mysuru, have fallen prey to.

No police complaint

No complaint, however, has been made by the bank before the Cyber Police, while many customers told The Hindu that they have been asked not to approach the police, assuring them that they would get back their money. However, in Sringeri of Chikkamagaluru district, a series of complaints have been filed with the police.

Sources with the Cyber Crime wing of the State CID acknowledged that neither the bank nor any customer had approached them with a complaint. Tobby Simon, city-based cyber expert and founder-chairman Synergia Foundation, averred that the bank fraud could be due to be possible hacking. “The hacking of the bank details could be either internal (insider job) or external (remote hacker), and can be ascertained only after a thorough probe,” he added.

Unprecedented scam

Individual accounts have been hacked before and money siphoned off after customers revealed confidential information

However, this incident stands apart because the hackers managed to withdraw money without customers divulging any information