Noida: Retired bank employee duped of ₹18.3 lakh in cyber fraud

The complainant said that his father received a call on November 4 regarding the life certificate required for his pension

Noida

A case has been registered under sections for cheating and cheating by impersonation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act. Police said the efforts to arrest the accused are underway. (Representational image)

A retired bank employee has alleged that cybercriminals have hacked his mobile phone and siphoned ₹18.31 lakh in multiple transactions after sending an APK file on November 4, police said on Monday.

The victim, who wished not to be named, is a resident of Sector 46. On the bases of a complaint by the victim’s son, a case has been registered at the Cybercrime branch.

An APK (Android Package Kit) file is used by the Android operating system to distribute and install mobile apps. It is a package that contains all the necessary code, resources, and other data needed for an app to run on a device. Cyber fraudsters have recently started using APK files that serve as a delivery mechanism for malware so the criminals can steal sensitive information.

The complainant said that his father received a call on November 4 regarding the life certificate required for his pension.

Police said that during the call the fraudster posed as a representative of a nationalised bank’s certificate verification department. “The suspect asked multiple questions posing as a bank employee, to gain the victim’s confidence. Later, on the pretext of completing the process, he sent an APK file to the victim’s mobile phone and asked him to download it,” a police officer said.

After the file was downloaded, the victim’s mobile phone was cloned, and the suspect siphoned off the money in multiple transactions. “The man did not realise that his mobile phone had been hacked. The next morning, when he received multiple transaction messages of ₹18.31 lakh, he realised he had been duped,” said Ranjeet Singh, station house officer, Cybercrime branch.

A case has been registered under sections for cheating and cheating by impersonation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act. Police said the efforts to arrest the accused are underway.