Bengaluru-based Neblio Technologies Private Limited, the parent company of cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX, said it has lost Rs 384 crore due to hacking, in one of the biggest cyber crimes reported in the country.
In a police complaint on July 22, Hardeep Singh, Vice-President, Public Policy and Government Affairs, Neblio Technologies, said that someone hacked into the company’s wallet to transfer cryptocurrency worth $44 million (Rs 384 crore) at around 2.37 am on July 19 to six different accounts.
During an internal investigation, the company found that the laptop of an employee, Rahul Agarwal, was hacked, and Rs 15 lakh was remitted to his account. When questioned, Agarwal claimed he was engaged in a part-time job.
A police officer said Singh alleged in the complaint that Agarwal was given a laptop for office work, and it had been strictly mandated that he was not allowed to use it for other purposes. However, Agarwal ignored the company’s mandate, he said.
Singh suspected that Agarwal would have joined hands with some unknown persons to hack the cryptocurrency.
While speaking to The Indian Express, a spokesperson of Neblio said, “As the matter is currently under active investigation by the relevant authorities, we are unable to share further details at this point to ensure the integrity of the process is not compromised. We urge the media and the public to avoid speculation or the circulation of unverified information, as it may impede the ongoing investigation.”
The Whitefield CEN police have registered a case under sections 66 (computer related offences), 43 (penalty and compensation for damage to computer, computer system etc), 66(c) (indentity theft) and 66(d) (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of Information Technology Act and 303 (theft), 316 (4) (criminal breach of trust), 318 (4) (cheating), 319 (2) (cheating by personation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The police said they are probing the matter further.