Cyber criminals target former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran, steal ₹99,999 from his bank account
The Hindu
Chennai: Cybercriminals have stolen ₹99,999 from former Union Minister and DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran's personal savings account. He lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime Wing of the Greater Chennai City Police. Maran raised questions on safety of data and demanded accountability and justice. He asked the govt. to take action to protect private data and release a white paper on the issue. #Cybercrime #DataSafety #Accountability #Justice #WhitePaper.
Cyber criminals have stolen ₹99,999 from the personal savings account of former Union Minister for Communications and Information Technology, and sitting DMK MP, Dayanidhi Maran. A complaint was lodged in this regard with the Cyber Crime Wing of the Greater Chennai City Police.
Mr. Maran confirmed this development on his social media handle on X (formerly Twitter). “On Sunday, ₹99,999 was stolen from my @AxisBank personal savings account through a net banking transfer via @IDFCFIRSTBank-@BillDesk, bypassing all normal safety protocols. An OTP, the standard protocol for such transactions, was neither generated nor received by my linked mobile number. Instead, a call was made to the account’s joint holder - my wife’s number and the fraudsters had the gall to ask if the transaction had taken place. They pretended to be from the bank but had @cbic_india on their display picture. This confirmed my suspicions and I immediately proceeded to block all activities on my account,” said Mr. Maran.
The MP said, “What puzzles me is how they accessed personal information and breached security protocols with such ease. This wasn’t a phishing attack nor were any sensitive details divulged. @AxisBank was clueless as to how the attack had happened nor could they give any solid explanation for why the OTP was not required from my number for the transaction to take place.”
He added: ”If this can happen to someone who is aware of tech and cautious with private data, what about first-time digital users and senior citizens? Is anyone’s data safe? In the past, I’ve written to Hon’ble FM Tmt.@nsitharaman and @FinMinIndia seeking help for cybercrime victims in my capacity as an MP. Today, as a victim, I demand accountability & justice.”
Quoting a newspaper report, he also said financial frauds accounted for 75% of cybercrimes in India from January 2020 to June 2023. Reports of sensitive Aadhaar data being sold had emerged as early as 2018, he said, adding that bank data breaches and ransomware attacks have become regular news items.
“For India to excel in the digital world or to emerge as a FinTech hub, we need robust security and government action. What action is the government taking to protect our private data? Will @FinMinIndia & FM release a white paper on this? We need answers and we need them now,” Mr. Maran said.