It looks like cyberfrauds are not limited to individuals. Cybercriminals are now finding ways to cheat government organizations. Yes, you read it right. India’s top defence and aerospace equipment manufacturer Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) became a victim and paid Rs 55 lakh to scammers, faking to be a US-based company.

In May 2024, HAL reached PS Engineering Inc. to purchase aircraft parts. Fraudsters who were closely monitoring this conversation later sent a fake email demanding $63,405 (about Rs 55 lakh). Assuming it was genuine, HAL transferred the said amount. The fraud came to light when PS Engineering notified HAL that no payment was made in their favor. HAL realized the scam when they found that the email ID they received was fraudulent. While the original email ID of PS Engineering Inc. was gledbetter@ps-engineering.com, scammers used jlane@ps-enginering.com, which contained fake bank details. HAL failed to check the missing ‘e‘ in the engineering and paid to the fraud account instead of the real company.

The additional general manager of HAL Kanpur, Ashok Kumar Singh complained the Cyber Police on March 13. It is yet unknown whether the scam was done by another US-based company or an Indian entity.

DCP Crime Anjali Vishwakarma said that a minor difference in the email ID was the reason for the fraud. Scammers created a fake email ID with the same name and removed one letter. The only difference was the missing letter ‘e’,” she said.

Since cybercrimes are on rise. Scammers are finding unique ways to fraud people despite advanced technology. It is reported that Indians lost almost close to 1.5 Lakh Crores in 2024 in cybercrimes. Finance ministry informed the Parliament that “With increasing digital payment transactions in the country, incidences of fraudulent practices including digital payment frauds have also gone up in the last few years,” in response to a question in parliament.

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