Ahmedabad: A 48-year-old farmer from Ramol lost over Rs 13 lakh after fraudsters sent him a fake traffic e-challan file on WhatsApp, which allegedly gave them access to his mobile phone and banking applications. A complaint has been registered with the Cybercrime police.According to the complaint, the victim received a WhatsApp message on Nov 28, 2025, from an unknown number with a file named “Traffic Challan 500.apk” and a message asking him to open it to check pending e-challan details. Believing it to be genuine, he opened the file, but nothing appeared on the screen.Within seconds, he started receiving bank alerts. Initially, Rs 5,700 was transferred between his own accounts, followed by a series of unauthorized transactions. By the time he realized something was wrong, a total of Rs 13.1 lakh had been debited from one of his accounts through multiple transactions, including payments towards unknown credit card bills and an IMPS transfer of Rs 3.9 lakh to another bank account.The victim later approached his bank, where officials informed him about the fraudulent transactions and advised him to report the matter to police and the cybercrime helpline. He also found that his WhatsApp account had been compromised, and messages containing similar APK files were sent to his contacts and groups without his knowledge. During a check of his phone, multiple WhatsApp groups with names resembling traffic police units were found, where unknown numbers were added as members and administrators.
