Digital marketing company loses Rs16.17 lakh after social media ad account hacked

Pune: Cybercrooks allegedly duped a city-based digital marketing company of Rs16.17 lakh by gaining unauthorised access to its social media advertising account and its credit cards.The company’s chief executive officer (CEO) lodged a complaint with the Baner police on Thursday.An officer said, “The company used a social media page for digital advertisements. The page was linked to the company’s email account and credit cards. On Aug 17, the complainant noticed an advertisement unrelated to his company was being run through its social media advertising account. The company initially stopped the advertisement, but it resumed later.”“The complainant changed the password of the account, but found he could no longer access it, indicating an unidentified person had taken control of it. They found the advertisement that had been running was funded through the company’s credit cards. Two transactions were made on Aug 18, one for Rs15.03, another for Rs1.14 lakh. The complainant blocked the cards and approached us. We have sought details of the transactions from the bank,” the officer said.