Lucknow, A 22-year-old man was arrested in Jharkhand for allegedly duping a Lucknow resident of nearly ₹32 lakh by sending him a malware-infected K file on WhatsApp on the pretext of updating his Green Gas meter, police said on Friday.
Officials said Green Gas Limited supplies piped natural gas to homes and businesses. In the meter scam, fraudsters pose as company representatives and send malicious K files on WhatsApp, claiming a meter update is required.
Once installed, the file can give them access to the victim's phone and banking details.
The accused, identified as Vivek Pratap Singh, a resident of Dhanbad, was arrested from the Dhanbad police station area in Jharkhand following a technical investigation, the Lucknow Police said in a statement.
"The case came to light after the victim, Kumud Chandra Agrawal, lodged a complaint at the Lucknow Cyber Crime Police Station on September 9, alleging that unknown cybercriminals had sent him an K file through WhatsApp in the name of updating his Green Gas meter," it said.
"The victim downloaded the file, following which the accused allegedly gained unauthorised access to his mobile phone and misused banking-related information stored on the device to withdraw approximately ₹32 lakh from his bank account," it added.
{{/usCountry}}"The victim downloaded the file, following which the accused allegedly gained unauthorised access to his mobile phone and misused banking-related information stored on the device to withdraw approximately ₹32 lakh from his bank account," it added.
{{/usCountry}}A case was registered under relevant provisions at the cyber crime police station, the statement said.
Police said Singh was brought to Lucknow after completion of the required legal formalities. The police team recovered ₹1,23,400 in cash, two mobile phones, six ATM cards, four Airtel Payments Bank kits and 11 SIM cards from his possession.
The Green Gas fraud has recently spread across the state capital, with police registering multiple FIRs and receiving several complaints by early October as many customers lost lakhs of rupees in similar frauds, according to officials.
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