Agra: In a first such crime in Agra zone, the cyber cell here has come across an online fraud case in which the victim’s mobile phone was hacked remotely by foreign-based hackers, who siphoned off more than Rs 5 lakh from his bank account to an account at a Mumbai-based private bank, police said. Though prompt action by police helped recover Rs 2.17 lakh, the remaining amount could not be recovered. An FIR has been lodged against unknown persons under IPC section 420 and section 66 of the Income Tax Act.Police also claimed that this was the first time in Agra zone when hackers took control of a victim’s mobile phone to siphon off money from a bank account. Investigation by a team of cyber cell officials, led by inspector Sanjeev Katiyar, found that the alleged hackers had earlier sent a phishing email to the victim. (TOI is holding the victim's name, hackers email ID, identities and nationality, as the case is under investigation).The email read: "...income tax department needs to refund Rs 1265.59 of tax return, please share your bank account, PAN card, debit card details...” The email resembled like the income tax department's virtual notification, with proper heading and format along with a fake dummy link: Notificationsincometaxefiling.ieacc.com.au.Inspector Katiyar said, “Believing that the email was genuine, the victim forwarded his details to the hackers, who then sent an app (Tmobile.apk) link to the victim’s mobile, instructing him to install it. As soon the app was installed, the hackers took control of the phone remotely.”“At around 3 am, when the victim was sleeping, the hackers withdrew the entire amount from victim’s bank account into e-wallets and then wired the sum to an account at a private bank in Mumbai,” said the inspector.Police officer Vishal, who is coordinating with various agencies to collect evidence against cyber frauds, said, “We have got strong links to connect the dots, but we need strong evidence to charge and nab the accused hackers. We hope to ? ?crack the case soon.”According to police, hackers target millions of bank customers but only a few get trapped in their web of lies and get duped.

Stay updated with all the Agra Latest News headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.