Police are investigating after a Govandi businessman allegedly installed a malicious APK disguised as a wedding invitation, triggering unauthorised debits from his bank accounts.
Mumbai police have opened an investigation after a Govandi businessman allegedly lost Rs 3.61 lakh in a WhatsApp scam that used a fake wedding invitation to plant malicious software on his phone. According to a report by the Free Press Journal, the file was sent as an APK, the Android app package format that can install software outside official app stores and is often abused by cybercriminals.
Police said the complainant, Pramod Kashinath Bahalkar, received the message on September 19 from the WhatsApp number of an acquaintance, Nana Vani. Believing the wedding invitation could be genuine because Vani’s son had been discussing marriage, Bahalkar did not open the file immediately. He later downloaded it on September 21, after which his phone reportedly froze, prompting him to switch it off and put it aside.
The complaint says the trouble continued after Bahalkar and his family travelled to Sri Lanka. On September 27, he received alerts about unauthorised debits from his Axis Bank and State Bank of India accounts, and he later reported the matter to the cybercrime helpline, 1930. Even after he filed complaints and contacted his bank, further debits were allegedly made, taking the total loss to Rs 3.61 lakh.
The Free Press Journal said police have registered a case against unidentified people under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. The case fits a wider pattern seen in India, where police in Rajasthan have warned that fraudsters are using fake wedding invitations on WhatsApp to spread malware, while other reports, including one from LiveMint, have described similar attacks in which victims lost money after opening invitation files sent through the messaging platform. Security specialists consistently advise users not to install APK files from unknown or unexpected sources and to report suspected cyber fraud promptly through 1930.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to inform and educate, not to recommend or endorse any financial product, investment or strategy. Please consider your own financial circumstances and seek professional advice where appropriate before making financial decisions.
