Ahmedabad: A 75-year-old pensioner has allegedly lost ₹9.77 lakh after cybercriminals posing as customer care representatives tricked him into downloading malicious applications while he was arranging a family holiday.
The victim, Nitin Hathi, a resident of Gulbai Tekra, was planning a trip to Nagpur during the Diwali holidays. On October 19, he encountered difficulties uploading his PAN card while using the Airbnb application and contacted a number listed as Ahmedabad Airbnb customer care.
The person who answered sent him an Android application package (APK) file named “Customer Support FUD.apk” through WhatsApp. Hathi downloaded the file and shared a photograph of his PAN card as requested.
The fraudsters subsequently sent another APK file, disguised as an application for Bank of India pension card verification. After he opened the file, an unfamiliar banking application was installed on his phone. Although he later deleted the application, the damage had already been done.
On October 20, Hathi received an alert about a debit of ₹11,800 from his bank account. He was shocked to discover that his balance had fallen to just ₹32.95.
He immediately contacted Bank of India to block his accounts. During the process, he learnt that the registered email addresses linked to both accounts had been changed without his authorisation.
A subsequent examination of his bank statements revealed that ₹9.77 lakh had been transferred through 17 unauthorised transactions between October 19 and 20.
Hathi approached the national cybercrime helpline at 1930 before filing a complaint with the City Cyber Crime Police on Wednesday.
The incident highlights how fraudsters exploit travel-related searches and impersonate customer support representatives to distribute malicious APK files. Users should contact companies only through their official websites or applications and avoid downloading files shared by unknown numbers on messaging platforms.
