Mumbai: Hacker targets travel agency at Pydhonie, siphons Rs 33 lakh

The Pydhonie police are on the lookout for an unknown person who allegedly hacked into the system of a travel agency and caused losses to the tune of Rs 33 lakh to the company. The accused not only tampered with the ticketing rates but also made 173 transactions of hotel, flight and bus bookings.

According to the police, as per complainant P Joseph, 57, who works at Akbar Travels situated at Janjikar Street at Pydhonie, the fraud took place between July 20 and 21.

"Joseph claimed that some cyber fraudster hacked into the system of the travel agency and tampered with the ticketing prices and through thewww.akbartravels.com web portal, the accused made 173 transactions of flight, hotel and bus bookings," said an officer from Pydhonie police station.

He added: "The accused then used the money generated through these transactions to some other account. The company suffered a loss of Rs 33 lakh in this fraud. When the company officials learnt about the fraud, they reported the matter with the police on Tuesday."

The police have registered a case under section 420 (cheating) of Indian Penal Code and sections 66 C ( Punishment for identity theft) and 66 D (Punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) and are probing further.