₹3.17 lakh stolen in phishing fraud, cops recover total amount

Noida Police recovered ₹3.17 lakh fraudulently withdrawn after a man clicked a fake traffic challan link. Investigation ongoing; no arrests made yet.

Noida Police have recovered ₹3.17 lakh on Tuesday that was fraudulently withdrawn from a man’s bank account after he clicked on a fake traffic challan link, police said.

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Police said the incident occurred on January 13when the man received a message containing a fake challan link. After clicking it, ₹3,17,500 was siphoned from his bank account.

“The moment a person clicks on the link, an APK file gets installed on the phone. It may not be visible to the user, but it takes complete access of the device. The fraudsters then misuse the data and gain access to the victim’s bank account,” said Amit Tomar station house officer, Sector 58.

Police said the complainant, Prem Ranjan, 30, a resident of Shatabdi Vihar in Sector 61, stated that he reported the incident on the national cybercrime portal the same day. “On January 13, a single fraudulent transaction of ₹3,17,500 was made from my bank account,” he said in his complaint.

Ranjan alleged that despite registering a complaint, no immediate action was taken initially. He later submitted a written complaint at the Sector 58 police station on January 20, following which an FIR was registered, police said.

Police said the cyber help desk team of Sector 58 police coordinated with the concerned bank and managed to recover the entire amounton Tuesday. Further investigation is underway, and no arrests have been made so far.

Tomar said, “The accounts into which the money was transferred were immediately frozen. After informing the bank, the entire amount was returned.”

A case has been registered under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, which deals with cheating by personation using computer resources.