NEET 2026: Bihar student arrested for allegedly attempting to divert refunds of 150 aspirants
Bihar: The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch has arrested a 19-year-old BSc student from Bihar on charges of attempting to transfer the refund money of 150 NEET candidates into his own bank account.
After a case was registered at the cybercrime police station, the police traced and arrested the accused. According to the complaint, he created a fake identity for the complainant's daughter and stole her NEET exam application number and password.
According to the investigation findings, the accused gained unauthorised access to the NEET UG-2026 portal by illegally using the login credentials without the concerned person's knowledge or consent and attempted to fraudulently obtain a refund by entering the bank account details of another individual, as reported by NewsCareer360.
The report further states that the accused stole login credentials, accessed the NEET UG 2026 fee refund portal, and entered incorrect bank account details.
The investigation further said that he targeted around 350 NEET candidates and took advantage of simple and weak passwords used by around 150 of them.
After accessing the accounts, the accused identified candidates eligible for fee refunds and replaced their registered bank account details with their own in an attempt to claim the NEET UG 2026 refund amounts.
“The Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) of the National Testing Agency (NTA), considering the gravity of the offence, took immediate action and shared the required information with the Cyber Crime Police, Ahmedabad City ,which was precise information regarding the digital footprints generated through the security features of the portal. Based on this technical data, the police successfully identified the accused, traced his location, and apprehended him,” the report said.
Following the incident, the police have urged students and parents to remain vigilant and always use strong passwords for educational and other online portals, passwords that include a combination of uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
“Strictly avoid using common and easily guessable passwords such as your mobile number, date of birth, name, or simple combinations like '123456". Never share your account details, passwords, OTPs, or any other confidential information with any person. Use the official NEET websites for the refund process,” it said.
