₹14 Crore Fraud Uncovered at Central Bank of India

Mumbai, October 25: A significant fraud involving ₹13.97 crore has been reported at the Central Bank of India, where 187 unauthorized transactions occurred between October 15 and 17. According to the bank's complaint, these transactions were made from its RBI settlement account and transferred to accounts across 36 different banks. An FIR has been filed against unidentified individuals at the nodal cyber police station in Mumbai.

The bank alleges that attackers gained unauthorized access to a central financial messaging server used for banking transactions, facilitating the transfer of funds. However, the exact method of withdrawal and the identities of those involved remain under investigation. Notably, the bank's internal team could not find any record of these transactions in its standard banking systems, raising concerns for investigative agencies about how these transactions occurred and why they are missing from the bank's records.

The FIR indicates that the unauthorized transactions were executed over three days: 61 on October 15, 88 on October 16, and 93 on October 17, totaling 187 transactions. The bank's General Manager (Treasury) lodged the complaint, and police are currently working to trace the accounts that received the funds and the systems used for the transactions. The investigation is particularly focused on the role of the Structured Financial Messaging System (SFMS), which facilitates secure messaging for bank payments.

The bank's complaint suggests that unknown individuals accessed its core banking system through the SFMS server, which is operated by IFTAS, a subsidiary of the RBI. As the investigation unfolds, it remains unclear whether the funds have been recovered or how many individuals are involved in this fraud. The bank has informed the RBI and other cybersecurity agencies about the incident, and further inquiries will aim to identify the beneficiaries of the funds and the methods used for unauthorized access.

Currently, it is not confirmed if any customer accounts were directly affected by this incident, and the bank has stated that the full extent of the damage will be clearer as more information becomes available.