Overnight, multiple user accounts of a bank in Changsha were stolen, and nearly 100,000 yuan disappeared. After four months of investigation, the police learned that the perpetrators were actually three graduates from prestigious universities. They stole user deposits by exploiting security vulnerabilities in "personal online banking" and creating their own hacker software. More than 20 users in Changsha, Shanghai, and other places were victims, with a total involved amount of over 500,000 yuan. On May 2nd, a bank customer in Changsha named Li Fang (a pseudonym) discovered that her 10,050 yuan deposit had mysteriously "evaporated." Upon investigation, it was found that more than 10 customers of the bank had been robbed, and nearly 100,000 yuan in deposits had vanished. On June 4th, the Criminal Investigation Team of Kaifu District Public Security Bureau in Changsha, the Economic and Cultural Protection Department, and Wanglushan Police Station jointly formed a special investigation team. Investigations revealed that Li Fang's missing 10,000+ yuan had been transferred at 18:57 on May 2nd into the account of a Xiangtan user named Wang Mou.
The surveillance video footage retrieved by the police showed that the physical characteristics of the man who withdrew money from the bank on May 2nd did not match Wang Mou. Wang Mou recalled that a man named Tan Jishan from Shuangfeng had bought his ID information for 200 yuan to open an account. "Tan Jishan, 29 years old, is a graduate of the computer science department of a prestigious university in our province. He is proficient in computers and is a well-known network expert, making him a major suspect in this case."
Caught in the Act
The police immediately went to Tan Jishan's hometown of Loudi for investigation and issued an online arrest warrant. At this time, frequent cases of "personal online banking" theft occurred in Guangzhou, Nanjing, and other places, with methods very similar to those of the suspect Tan Jishan. On October 10th at 20:00, the police arrested Tan Jishan and two others, Tan Changgeng and Wang Yuxin, in a rented house in XinKaipu, Changsha, while they were planning another crime. Two computers used for the crime and one bank-dedicated machine were seized.
Self-compiled Hacker Program
Upon investigation, it was found that the suspects Tan Jishan, Tan Changgeng, and Wang Yuxin were high school classmates. All three graduated from different prestigious universities and had long been associated with each other. In early May of this year, due to dissatisfaction with their jobs, the three decided to "make money." By chance, Tan Jishan, who majored in computer science, logged into a bank webpage and discovered a vulnerability in the online banking system. He then wrote a set of hacker programs to obtain some depositors' information and withdrew money using the bank-dedicated machine. Currently, all three have been legally criminally detained.
Police Remind Users How to Prevent Online Bank Theft
The police remind users that first, if you do not need online transfer functions, you should disable the corresponding functions of your bank card, avoid browsing inappropriate websites while online, install antivirus software and personal firewalls on your computer, and pay attention to timely updates.
Secondly, network viruses can spread through emails, instant messaging, MSN, QQ, and other channels. If computer users discover virus-containing programs, pages, or files while browsing webpages, they should move them to a temporary folder.
Thirdly, do not casually download software from unknown websites. Install and update antivirus software on your computer, enable real-time monitoring functions to prevent virus intrusion.