Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Hit by INR 2.16 Crore Cyber Fraud After Hackers Spoof Executive Email

According to a Moneycontrol report citing a formal complaint submitted to the Bengaluru City Cyber Crime Police on November 5, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd reportedly lost INR 2.16 crore in a cyber fraud in which hackers stole money by posing as a Group Pharmaceuticals executive. Mahesh Babu K of Group Pharmaceuticals Ltd filed the lawsuit, claiming that Dr. Reddy's was expected to pay the company INR 2.16 crore for the goods that were given. Last week, the con artists allegedly delivered a phoney message to Dr. Reddy's financial staff by hacking the email traffic between the two businesses.

Modus Operandi

Instead of using "kkeshav@grouppharma.in", the email was sent from "KKeshav@Grouppharma.in", which is identical to the official address. It requested that the team transfer the funds to a different Bank of Baroda account. The officials paid the phoney account because they thought the communication was authentic. Group Pharmaceuticals contacted the police after learning of the scam in order to retrieve the money and freeze the funds transferred to the fictitious account. The report stated that the accused is based in Vadodara, Gujarat, in accordance with the FIR.

Along with pertinent Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions, the case has been filed under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act due to allegations of identity theft and impersonation cheating. The investigation into cyber fraud is presently in progress. Identity theft, impersonation, cheating by using computer resources, and the distribution of offensive or dangerous content are among the acts covered by the Information Technology Act of 2000.

India is Witnessing a Spike in Cyber Fraud

In recent years, cyber scams have increased in frequency, resulting in large financial losses for both individuals and businesses. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the parliament in July that last year, Indians lost over INR 22,000 crore to internet frauds. As of February 28, 2025, cyber frauds totalling INR 36.45 lakh had been recorded on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).

The government claims that numerous fraud complaints are mentioning tactics like spoofing, in which criminals pose as reliable sources. In a similar vein, there are more and more instances of deepfakes that use AI and phishing, in which people are tricked into disclosing private information by means of false emails or texts.