Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a 36-year-old man from Indore who allegedly developed and supplied several malicious APK files to cyber fraud gangs. The police alleged that the files were linked to fraud against 9,673 victims nationwide, which involved an estimated Rs 150 crore.
The accused has been identified as Pankaj Avhdesh Gupta, The Times of India reported. According to police, Gupta developed around 2,805 malicious APK files that were allegedly sold to cyber fraud gangs.
Engineering Dropout Turned APK Developer
Gupta reportedly dropped out of engineering college during his second year.
He is said to have begun by developing gaming applications before learning how to create APK files. Later, he allegedly started supplying malicious applications to cyber fraud gangs. Police suspect he had been involved in the activity for around three years.
The Crime Branch's Property Cell alleged that Gupta took several precautions to conceal his identity and to minimise his digital footprint. Investigators, however, reportedly traced him by following the technical trail linked to one of the malicious APK files.
“During the analysis of the APK files developed by the accused, we found that fraudsters are believed to have cheated more than ₹150 crore and the amount is still being assessed. We have arrested him and are now looking for several fraudster gangs that purchased the APK files from him,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Raj Tilak Roshan said.
Rs 5.62-Lakh Byculla Fraud Led Cops To Accused
The investigation stemmed from a cyber fraud complaint filed by a 72-year-old Byculla resident who was allegedly cheated of Rs 5.62 lakh on August 13.
According to police, a fraudster impersonated a senior manager of Bank of India named Dinesh Kumar and approached the elderly victim on the pretext of helping him obtain a Senior Citizen Card.
After gaining the victim's confidence, the fraudster allegedly sent him an APK file named “Senior Citizen Card Verification.apk” through WhatsApp.
The victim was allegedly entered his personal and debit card details after installing the application. Subsequently, Rs 5.62 lakh was siphoned from his account, police said.
Byculla Police has registered a case under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Further investigation is underway.
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