Bengaluru Officer Downloads Wedding Invite On WhatsApp, Loses Rs 10 Lakh

A deputy range forest officer in Bengaluru allegedly lost nearly Rs 10 lakh to cyber fraud after downloading a wedding invitation sent as an APK file on WhatsApp, police said.

The officer, believing the invitation to be genuine, downloaded and installed the file on the mobile phone, following which multiple transactions were made from his Bank of Baroda account on July 14. 

Upon checking the account, the officer discovered that Rs 9,96,659 had been withdrawn in these multiple transactions without authorisation.

Realising the fraud, the complainant deleted all APK files from the phone and later approached the police. 

Police said unknown cyber fraudsters are suspected to have gained access to the mobile device through the malicious APK file and siphoned off the money from his bank account.

A case has been registered and an investigation has been launched into the cyber fraud, police added.

Officials said cybercriminals use APK files forwared via WhatsApp to carry out malware-based scams. These files are often disguised as wedding invitations, event notifications, or other seemingly legitimate messages and are forwarded to multiple users. 

Once an APK file is downloaded and installed, malware can gain access to the device and compromise sensitive information, including personal data, banking details, messages, and other confidential records, officials added. 

They said such attacks can result in financial fraud and data theft. "This is an ongoing cybercrime trend that has been reported in several cases over the past few months, indicating a continuing threat to smartphone users". 

Officials have advised users to avoid downloading or installing APK files received via unsolicited WhatsApp messages and verify the authenticity of any file before opening it.