Spandana Sphoorty reports ₹ 7.8 crore in cyber fraud

Spandana Sphoorty Financial Ltd has reported a cyber fraud incident involving unauthorised transactions of approximately ₹7.80 crore from one of its bank accounts, with the funds transferred across 82 beneficiary accounts, the company said in a regulatory filing on Monday.

Spandana Sphoorty said it identified unauthorized transactions debited from one of its bank accounts on November 1, with the amount transferred through multiple transactions to different beneficiary accounts.
Following the discovery of the incident, the company immediately stopped the affected services in its production environment and informed the concerned bank, seeking reversal of the transactions, freezing of beneficiary accounts and a detailed investigation.

The company said it also registered a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and said it was informing other appropriate authorities. It has cyber fraud insurance and is filing a claim with its insurer. The investigation is underway, with further updates on potential recoveries and findings to be communicated to stock exchanges.
The incident comes amid a series of cybersecurity concerns involving major financial institutions.

Last week, AU Small Finance Bank disclosed that it was investigating a potential data leak involving a third-party software-as-a-service platform managed and hosted by Salesforce, which holds limited information relating to its vehicle loan customers. The lender clarified that its own systems remained unaffected and banking services were operating normally. A hacking group, ScarlettGroup, had claimed to have accessed sensitive customer and corporate information, although the extent of the alleged exposure remains under investigation.

Earlier, SBI reported a suspected customer data exposure on the dark web. A preliminary examination of approximately 3.75 lakh records identified 3,897 customer records containing personally identifiable information, including names, mobile numbers, email addresses, residential addresses and loan-related information. The bank engaged an independent cybersecurity agency to assess the incident and said customer balances remained safe.

These incidents highlight the growing cybersecurity challenges facing financial institutions as digital banking, technology platforms and electronic transactions become increasingly integrated into financial operations.
Shares of Spandana Sphoorty tumbled after the announcement of the cybersecurity incident and as of 13:39 IST, the stock traded nearly 2% lower at ₹185.85 on the National Stock Exchange. - ANI