Prompt Response from Constable Helps Pensioner Save Rs.5 Lakh in Digital Fraud

The victim approached the cyber crime police station in Hyderabad and reported a case of online financial fraud. The victim, a pensioner, was searching on Google for the official contact number of a nationalized bank to submit his life certificate, which is necessary to ensure uninterrupted pension payment.

While searching online for the contact details of the bank, the victim unknowingly contacted a fraudulent phone number listed by cyber criminals. During conversation, the fraudsters impersonated bank officials and informed him that a verification process would be carried out. They further instructed the victim to install an .APK application sent through WhatsApp, claiming it was required for completing the verification.

Trusting the caller to be genuine, the victim installed the application and followed the instructions provided. The APK file was malicious, and upon installation, it granted remote access of the victim’s mobile phone to fraudsters. As a result, the victim’s banking details and device control became compromised.

Soon after, the victim began receiving repeated banking messages, including debit alerts and OTP notifications. The installed malware forwarded these OTPs to fraudsters, enabling them to carry out unauthorized transactions. As a result, the victim incurred a financial loss of Rs.10 lakh from his bank account.

The victim approached the cyber crime police station, where constable, N. Srikanth Naik assisted him through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP). The malicious application was identified and removed from the victim’s mobile phone. Investigation revealed that the fraudulent transactions were routed through a payment gateway. Subsequently, in due course of investigation, the constable sent a notice to the nodal officer of the payment gateway.

Acting swiftly, the nodal officer, Harshavardhan Rao, responded and successfully blocked Rs.5 lakh — half of the defrauded amount — which is currently processed to the victim. Upon detailed technical analysis, it was found that the installed APK possessed permissions to read SMS messages and OTPs. Using these details, the fraudsters logged into the victim’s internet banking account.

This approach bypassed traditional fraud alert mechanisms, as internet banking transactions often do not generate immediate verification calls from banks. Further, the fraudsters attempted to gain control over the victim’s WhatsApp account. Once re-registered on a different device, they impersonated the victim, messaging his contacts to solicit money and distributing the same malicious APK file across multiple groups, thereby extending the fraud chain.