Hacker's heist: BTech graduate steals rewards, vouchers worth Rs 4.16 cr

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: It is a matter of serious concern that many youngsters are falling into the dark web of cybercrime and hacking in a bid to make easy and quick money.

A recent investigation into a private company server hacking case led to the arrest of a 23-year-old BTech g raduate from Andhra Pradesh. The city police recovered valuables including gold, silver and cash together amounting to Rs 4.16 crore from his possession.

During a press conference on Tuesday, Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said that a private firm in Hosur Road, Reward360, had filed a complaint with the police after noticing suspicious activities including theft of vouchers worth several lakhs from the web server.

Several customers had complained to the staff when they were unable to access their rewards and vouchers from the company website. Checking into the server, the staff realised that their server had been hacked.

With the help of the cybercrime wing, the South-East Division police launched a probe and traced the location of the accused in Andhra Pradesh. The police identified the accused as Bommaluru Lakshmipathi, a native of Chittoor district.

It was revealed that Lakshmipathi had been working at a company in Dubai for a few years before he returned to his native. Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru SouthEast Division, CK Baba told News Trail that the accused was a tech expert in legal and illegal data handling and had managed to monetize the stolen vouchers and rewards into currency.

"The accused had collected information about the digital rewards and other loyalty programs run by the company for its customers. With the stolen vouchers and rewards, he purchased valuables such as gold, silver, and a few two-wheelers," CK Baba said.

The police recovered 5.2 kg gold in the form of biscuits, 27.2 kg silver bars, Rs 11.13 lakh in cash, seven two-wheelers, two laptops and three mobile phones.

The cops also freezed Rs 29.5 lakh which he had saved in his e-commerce website wallet account.