Several hundred State Bank of Mysore customers in Karnataka are believed to have lost lakhs of rupees after their accounts were hacked. The bank management remained in a huddle through the day. According to a senior official, while the “matter has been settled”, it could have been due to a technical error.

Several customers who found their accounts hacked on Sunday apparently held a dharna in front of the bank’s branches on Monday. Bank officials pacified them and offered restitution of money after accepting written complaints.

Sources in the Cyber Crime wing of the State CID acknowledged that neither the bank nor any customer had approached them with any complaint. However, in Sringeri, a series of complaints have been filed with the police.

How it happened

On Sunday, Horamavu resident Sangeeta Rajan, a customer of SBM for over four years, found her cell phone getting clogged with text messages on withdrawal of ₹49 each from her online account.

“I received the first message on the ₹49 transaction around 3-30 pm and over 430 messages till 7 pm. I was shocked to realise that a total of over ₹29,500 had been siphoned off from my account,” said Rajan, whose distress calls to the SBM helpline allegedly remained futile.

The modus operandi was the same across the State with fraudsters debiting just ₹49 per transaction. The biggest loser appears to be Prasanna, whose account in a Sringeri branch was siphoned off ₹50,000.