Cyber fraud uses malware to hack phones via messaging apps: Delhi police

Police said that in this case, the accused, Chimelum Emmanuel Aniwetalu, alias Maurice Degri, sent malware links -- disguised as links for gifts and lucrative offers -- to gain control of the victims’ phone

The city police force has stumbled upon a rare cyber fraud with the arrest of a 33-year-old Nigerian national who allegedly hacked phones and used messaging apps such as WhatsApp to either blackmail the owner or impersonate the person to ask money from their contacts.

Police said this is the first time in Delhi that they are coming across an instance of malwares being used to get remote access of a person’s phone and use it to take control of WhatsApp account. (Picture for representation only)

Police said that in this case, the accused, Chimelum Emmanuel Aniwetalu, alias Maurice Degri, sent a malware links -- disguised as links for gifts and lucrative offers -- to gain control of the victim’s phone.

While a similar fraud in which email accounts of victims are hacked has become common in the last 10-15 years, police said this is the first time in Delhi that they are coming across an instance of malwares being used to get remote access of a person’s phone and use it to take control of WhatsApp account. Police have sent the suspect’s phones to forensic labs to check how many people were targeted in this way.

Deputy commissioner of police (cyber cell) KPS Malhotra said Degri and his accomplices were operating from Delhi and Bengaluru. “We started probing this case after receiving a complaint from a person whose cell phone was hacked by some unknown persons. After taking control of the complainant’s WhatsApp account, they started demanding money from people in the contact list by sending distress messages. The suspects also blackmailed the person after gaining control of the data on the phone... We registered a case and started probe,” he said.

DCP Malhotra clarified that the app was not hacked. “The data on the app is safe but if the phone is hacked, it is like giving the control of the phone to another person.”

DCP Malhotra said that technical surveillance led investigators to the suspect, Degri, who was traced to a house in west Delhi’s Mohan Garden.

“In all, 15 mobile phones and one laptop have been seized from his possession. The seized laptop showed that they used applications used to design various malware links... The accused used to create dedicated apps for each victim which when downloaded and installed on the victim’s phone, will send the Contacts, Call Logs and SMSs to their server, from where they could access his phone,” he added.

Police said Degri and his associates would demand ₹5,000-50,000 from the victims.

A WhatsApp spokesperson did not respond to requests seeking comment.