Several HDFC Bank clients found themselves millionaires for a few hours on Sunday, when their account balances soared to as high as Rs 13 crore due to what the bank later described as a technical problem. To correct the mistake, the bank immediately blocked the accounts.
The crime was discovered after a consumer reported his bank account had been hacked to Chennai Police. After that, police contacted branch officials, who stated that messages were transmitted incorrectly while a software patch was being completed, causing the debit and credit updates to be jumbled up.
Many users rushed to Twitter to share screenshots of their overdrawn accounts. A person wrote, “Even my HDFC Bank account showed 2.49 crore yesterday morning.”
The bank stated the problem was limited to select accounts at some HDFC Bank locations in Chennai and was caused by a technological error. It blamed the problem on the installation of a software patch as part of routine maintenance on Sunday morning.
The largest private sector bank in India is investigating whether any extra funds placed in the accounts were withdrawn. On the other hand, the development has raised concerns about customers’ misery, as high-value transactions surpassing specific thresholds must be reported to the income tax authorities.
It all started on Sunday morning, when the bank temporarily suspended accounts with inflated balances due to concerns about money transfer.