Hyderabad: City-based software professional recently became a victim of an advanced cyber attack, losing Rs 42 lakh from his bank and US share market accounts.

In the attack from March, hackers carried out unauthorized wire transfers and withdrawals without even asking for OTP or call authentication. They also wiped out the victim’s WhatsApp account and asked for ransom to reinstate access to his accounts.

Hyderabad techie who is an active investor in the US share market realised that his identity was stolen after several wire transactions were carried out over a period of 10 days.

Initially the man received emails from new accounts being opened in his name. After the money transfer and several withdrawals, he reported the incident to the cyber crime police.

The money was transferred to several accounts and withdrawals were also made without his knowledge.

In another similar case, a Hyderabad businessman lost Rs 1.22 crore in an online trading fraud, while the Hyderabad Cyber Crimes department has been actively fighting such frauds, recovering substantial amounts for victims.

Cases like these have been reported from all over India, where hackers have been using loopholes in electronic transactions and internet-based platforms.