A government employee from Maharashtra’s Hingoli district allegedly lost nearly ₹2 lakh after falling prey to a cyber fraud carried out through a fake digital wedding invitation on WhatsApp.
A fake wedding e-invite on WhatsApp tricked a Maharashtra government employee into losing nearly ₹2 lakh to cyber fraud. (AI-generated image)
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The victim received a message from an unknown number on WhatsApp inviting them to a wedding scheduled for August 30, reported NDTV. However, opening the seemingly harmless invitation turned out to be a costly mistake.
According to the report, the text message read: “Welcome. Shadi mein zarur aye (Do come to the wedding). 30/08/2025. Love is the master key that opens the gate of happiness.”
Below the text appeared what looked like a PDF file of the invitation card. In reality, it was an Android Application Package (APK) file designed to hack into the victim’s phone.
The victim clicked on the disguised file, allowing cybercriminals to access personal data from the phone. Shortly after, ₹1.9 lakh was stolen. A case has been registered against an unknown person at Hingoli police station and the cyber cell, the news channel's report said.
Cyber fraud racket busted in Thane
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In a separate case, Maharashtra Police busted a cyber fraud racket in Thane with the arrest of seven persons from Goa, news agency PTI reported citing a police official on Saturday.
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In a separate case, Maharashtra Police busted a cyber fraud racket in Thane with the arrest of seven persons from Goa, news agency PTI reported citing a police official on Saturday.
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The group allegedly cheated job seekers by misusing their bank accounts and SIM cards for illegal activities.
“The accused lured the victim under the pretext of offering him a job. They opened a bank account in his name and took away the passbook, ATM card, and SIM card linked to it. These were later sent to Goa for use in cyber crimes,” Inspector Atul Adurkar said.
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The fraud came to light when one job aspirant, who never received employment, enquired with his bank and discovered that his account had been used for illegal transactions.
Police said at least 80 aspirants were duped in a similar manner.
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Home/India News/Maharashtra man loses ₹2 lakh after getting wedding invite on WhatsApp: Here's how the scam works
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