Cyber police bust APK fraud racket, arrest six

“The accused used to make APK files and send people MGL Gas Unblock files. They used to tell people either you have not paid the bill or used to ask them to send ₹1 after downloading the apk file to continue the gas connections,” said a police officer.

MUMBAI: Six persons from Jharkhand and New Delhi have been arrested for allegedly running a cyber fraud racket that used malicious APK files disguised as Mahanagar Gas Limited (MGL) payment alerts to gain access to victims’ phones and siphon money from their bank accounts.

Cyber police bust APK fraud racket, arrest six

The accused have been identified as Arif Ansari, 28, Shaikh Naushad, 28, Mehboob Alam, 26, Mohan Mohanto, 23, Sunil Soren, 25, all residents of Jharkhand, and Sajid Ali, 29, from New Delhi.

“The accused used to make APK files and send people MGL Gas Unblock files. They used to tell people either you have not paid the bill or used to ask them to send ₹1 after downloading the apk file to continue the gas connections,” said a police officer.

Once the victims downloaded the APK file, their phones would be hacked. Having received the access, the accused would use it to withdraw money or carry transactions in the name of the complainant.

Police said they have traced 3,206 complaints linked to the accused across the country, including 517 from Maharashtra and 93 from Mumbai. The total fraud amount is estimated at around ₹43 crore.

Investigators said such scams have increased in recent weeks, with fraudsters using messages related to MGL bills, traffic challans and other civic services to lure victims into downloading malicious files.

DCP (Cyber) Bajrang Bansode urged citizens not to download APK or ZIP files received from unknown sources. “Never share ATM PINs, passwords or OTPs with anyone. In case of cyber fraud, immediately report it on the cybercrime helpline,” he said.