Kathmandu. It has been revealed that a large amount of money has been stolen from the bank accounts of Nepalis. It has been revealed that the criminal gang active in an organized way has stolen crores of rupees by accessing the personal details of the bank customers by hacking.
Nepal’s cyber security expert Saroj Lamichhane has revealed that hackers stole millions of rupees from bank customers’ accounts. According to him, more than Rs 800 million has been stolen so far by downloading an unknown app called ‘NEPSE AI’.
Lamichhane, on his LinkedIn page, cited the example of the incidents that took place in the last few weeks and exposed the fraudster run by organized criminal gangs. Suddenly, an unidentified sender deposited Rs 114,000 in one of my brothers’ bank. We tried to find the sender but there was no contact,” Lamichhane wrote. We came to know that the cyber bureau had sent a letter to block it. We went there, they called the sender and we found out that he was actually a victim. His laptop was hacked. Money was transferred to my brother’s account and the hacker probably came to know my brother’s bank details as he runs an egg shop displaying his QR code in public. ’
Lamichhane has also mentioned about another incident. “Today, an acquaintance called me. He sent someone to my office. Within a week, more than Rs 1.4 million was transferred from his account to a single bank account. A lot of transactions took place in some other wallets. He had never done these transactions,” he wrote, adding, “When I checked, both victims installed the NEPSE AI app through advertisements on Facebook or Instagram. The first victim said that the remote session opened after installing, and the app disappeared and his bank statement showed the money was missing. ’
According to Lamichhane, both used Android phones. “Most of the banks send two-factor authentication (2FA) codes in e-mail. The game is over if the hacker had browser access or mobile access. The app’s website kept changing. The first victim also called their number and a Nepali-speaking person helped her install the app. Therefore, nepalis are clearly involved in this case,” he wrote.
Lamichhane said the victims’ laptops had been deleted. “Only the BIOS screen was left,” he wrote, adding that someone had destroyed all the evidence. It’s serious. I am sure that more than Rs 80 crore has already been officially reported. It’s not a small theft, it’s organized, well planned and continuous. ’
Lamichhane suggested that the concerned agencies and authorities should immediately issue public notices and take necessary steps to prevent people from being hacked and looted. “If anyone sees such advertisements, they should immediately lodge a complaint,” he said, adding, “If someone asks us to install apps from unknown sources, don’t do it.” ’
How to stay safe?
Cyber security expert Lamichhane has also given some suggestions to avoid such fraud gangs.
- Never install unfamiliar apps that come through advertisements, links or phone calls seeking banking or trading access in particular.
- Do not remotely access strangers on your computer or mobile through means such as Anidesk, TeamViewer.
- enable 2FA to SMS and not by e-mail as much as possible. Because e-mail can be hacked quietly.
- Password should be changed regularly. The same password should not be used on different sites.
- Bank statement should be checked on a daily basis. If suspicious activity is noticed, the concerned authorities should be informed immediately.
- Do not click financial device ads seen on Facebook or Instagram without verifying from official sources.
- Should keep your device updated. Antivirus and antimalware should be installed.
- } Suspicious transactions should be reported to the Cyber Bureau.
- }Caution your friends and family. Because most victims have never heard of this type of fraud.
