26 sailors sent on shipping jobs using stolen credentials from crew management company

MUMBAI: The police have registered an FIR against unknown cyber frauds who hacked into the website of a ship crew management company and used their login credentials to send around 26 sailors on various jobs.
According to the Wadala TT police officials, the complaint was filed by Kamaljit Bhatti, 51, a resident of Kandivali, who works as general manager at K Steamship Agencies. The company was also awarded a licence by the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.
The information on manpower supplied on various ships is filed on the portal of the Director General (DG), shipping through a dedicated website via the unique login ID and password provided to the licence holders.
The aim of the company is to provide technical and crew management support to ship owners.
“In April 2022, during their routine auditing process, the employees discovered that 26 sailors were listed under their company’s name who were sent on shipping jobs on high seas. But Kamaljit said he never sent them and neither have any information on the persons. They later found that the persons used the company’s login credentials and filed their information on the website of the Directorate General of Shipping to get those jobs,” said an officer.
The company further wrote to DG Shipping and informed them about the fraud. Kamaljit later learnt that several shipping companies were facing the same issue. “The seamen’s employment office, Ballard Estate, asked them to register an offence and therefore they approached us,” said the officer.
“The fraud happened between April 5, 2022 and June 6 2022. After inquiry, we have registered an FIR under SECTIONS ??? OF IPC and we have applied sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000,” said a police officer.
The police said they would get technical details from various agencies to find out where the login happened to identify the accused.