The fintech venture Navi Technologies, directed by Flipkart cofounder Sachin Bansal, fell prey to an appalling ₹14.26 crore scam designed by cyber criminals, as shared on YourStory Media's LinkedIn page. To carry out the incident, fraudsters manipulated a flaw in the payment gateway, changing transaction amounts to ₹1 while the company bore the entire payment. This scheme occurred over a 14-day period in December 2024.
The Whitefield Cyber Crime Police, Bengaluru are currently investigating the case after a complaint was filed on Saturday. According to the Livemint reports the fraudsters utilized the company’s TPAP (Third Party Payment-Gateway) meant for processing several transactions via Navi’s app. Amid all this, fraudsters exploited vulnerability allowing users to change the payable amount after commencing the payment.
This encouraged scammers to decrease the payable amount to ₹1 while recording transactions successfully completed. Meanwhile, Navi Technologies was being charged with the full original amount.
However, the developments have not yet been disclosed. This event underscores the essential requirement for strong technological defenses to prevent present vulnerabilities in the modern digital environment, where there is an increase in cybercrime with the evolving digital transformation process.
The cyber breach comes at a challenging time when Navi Technologies is facing imposed by the Reserve Bank of India in October due to excessive interest rates over loans. An investigation is underway to track down the perpetrators, as cybercrime experts caution businesses about the increasing risks of payment gateway exploitation.
Mukund Chaudhary, Founder at CyberSafeX, Cybersecurity & Compliance Expert commented on the portal, “VAPT is not just a critical step but an essential one, especially when launching new products or services. It ensures your offerings are secure, reliable, and ready to withstand potential cyber threats. Prioritizing security from the start is the key to building trust and sustainability.”
Monisha Dhanraj CEO & CIO at Frondeur Labs leading InfoSec and blockchain security initiatives said, “Coming years will be more brutal with advances in AI. Exploiting a bug with limited to no coding ability was never this easy before. Businesses must prioritise security (especially VAPT) more than ever.”
Shinil Pettikatil, President, of Model Risk Management at Wells Fargo said, “Even if they find the culprits eventually, the asset recovery rate is less than 5% in most of the financial crimes. Also, the cost of the investigation is on top of the loss. High time the world had (not just India) robust security around digital transactions and effective recovery mechanisms.”
This incident highlights the critical importance of establishing strong cybersecurity measures to combat financial fraud and safeguard trust in the digital financial ecosystem. Proactive defenses, regular audits, and continuous monitoring are essential to protect against evolving threats and ensure the integrity and reliability of online financial transactions.
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