Bhopal Residents Lose Over ₹10 Lakh In 3 Cyber Frauds, One Duped Through APK File

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): A 38-year-old garment businessman was duped of Rs 44,928 by cyber fraudsters who contacted him on the pretext of updating his electricity bill. The suspects sent an APK file through WhatsApp, obtained his debit card details and subsequently withdrew the money through two transactions.

In two other cyber fraud cases reported from Misrod, two persons were allegedly cheated of a total of Rs 9.71 lakh. Police have registered cases in all three incidents and launched investigations.

In the first case, Shashank Jain (38), a resident of Vardhman Kunj, received a call to get his electricity bill updated. The cyber fraudster told him that an APK file would be sent on WhatsApp to update the bill.

He was told to download the file and make a payment of Rs 12. Jain downloaded and opened the APK file and entered his debit card details, including the CVV and password, following which Rs 29,914 and Rs 15,014 were withdrawn from his account in two separate transactions.

Jain later realised that he had been cheated. On the basis of an e-Zero FIR received through the Cyber Crime unit, TT Nagar police registered a case and began investigating the matter.

In another case, 43-year-old Jatin Khandelwal, a resident of Golden City in Misrod, was allegedly lured by an unidentified fraudster and cheated of Rs 8 lakh.

In a separate incident in the same police station area, 59-year-old Ashok Sharma, a resident of Ruchi Lifetime Colony, was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.71 lakh after the fraudster obtained his UPI-related information.