Cybercriminals On The Prowl In Indore! Five Victims Lose Over ₹18 Lakh To Fake E-Challan, Investment, KYC And Parcel Scams

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A youth fell victim to a sophisticated e-challan phishing fraud after a cyber fraudster duped him of Rs 5.66 lakh by sending a fake traffic red-light violation SMS under the Parshipura police station limits.

On Sept 16, the victim received an SMS claiming his vehicle (MP04YN6570) had jumped a red traffic signal and incurred a fine of Rs 1,500. The message included a link purportedly to view and settle the e-challan.

Clicking the link automatically downloaded and installed a malicious APK file named NextGen mPariwahan onto his smartphone, giving the fraudsters remote access.

On Sept 22, the hackers made 25 withdrawal attempts against two bank accounts linked to the victim's PhonePe app. They successfully executed 16 unauthorised transactions, siphoning off Rs 5,66,998.

After receiving rapid debit alerts, the victim realised the security breach and immediately disconnected his mobile data and factory-reset his phone, stopping further unauthorised transfers. He subsequently filed a complaint on the national cybercrime portal and applied to freeze his bank accounts.

Int l stock trading fraud costs man Rs 8.7 lakh

A man fell victim to an online cyber fraud scheme after being lured into fake international stock market investments, losing a total of Rs 8,70,000 under the Chandan Nagar police station limits.

According to police, the victim Jay Kumar Badoniya received a phone call from an unknown woman who used persuasive language to gain his trust, promising lucrative returns on investments in the international share market.

Enticed by the prospect of high profits, the complainant transferred Rs 8.70 lakh in nine instalments into various bank accounts provided by the fraudster.

The fraud came to light when the victim neither received the promised returns nor could recover his principal amount, realising only then that he had been duped.

Man ripped off Rs 1.46L in gas connection KYC scam

A housing finance employee was targeted via a WhatsApp message impersonating Avantika Gas Agency. Under the guise of updating his gas connection KYC, the fraudster sent an APK link requesting a nominal payment of Rs 10.

After the victim clicked the link and attempted the payment, the fraudster hacked his phone, resulting in a loss of Rs 1,46,880 from his bank account and credit card.

Class 12 student duped of Rs 1.758L in fake UK gift parcel scam

A Class 12 student was befriended on Facebook by someone posing as "Amit Verma." The scammer convinced the teenager that a parcel containing expensive gifts and foreign currency was being sent to her from the UK.

Under the pretext of customs clearance and delivery fees, the scammer tricked the victim into transferring Rs 1,75,020 in multiple instalments before her father discovered the fraud and reported it to the police.

Fraudsters drain Rs 51k without account holder's knowledge

A man in Rajrani Nagar fell victim to an unauthorised online transaction and lost Rs 51,000 from his bank account.

According to Rajendra Nagar police, Kotiya discovered the fraud on Sep 25, while recharging his wife's mobile phone from his device. After receiving a low-balance alert, he reviewed his account statement using the bank application.

The statement revealed that Rs 51,000 had been illicitly debited from his account without his knowledge.