Vadodara: A 78-year-old man living in Akota lost Rs 10.61 lakh to cybercriminals after opening an APK file sent via WhatsApp which was in the guise of a wedding invitation.The victim later discovered unauthorised transactions from his bank account and lodged a complaint with Cyber Crime police station.Ramesh Desai received a WhatsApp message on Sep 5 with a wedding invitation and a request to open an the appended APK file. The sender urged him to attend the ceremony and bless the couple.On opening the file, Desai began getting messages on his phone, which made him suspicious. He went to his bank the next day to check his account, and found nothing amiss. He then deleted the APK file and messages.On Sep 12, Desai received a call from his bank but disconnected it as he could not hear the caller. He then began receiving verification codes, OTPs and KYC-related messages linked to loan applications. When he checked his account at an ATM, he found an unauthorised debit of Rs 98,000.The next day, bank officials told him that several transactions had been carried out on Sep 12 and Rs 10.61 lakh had been transferred from to various accounts. Desai blocked further transactions and approached the police.A similar case was reported in the city earlier this month. A businessman, Ramesh Patel, lost over Rs 1 lakh on opening an APK file disguised as a wedding invitation received from a relative’s phone. He opened the file, after which his phone repeatedly restarted. Days later, he discovered that cybercriminals had siphoned off money from his bank account after gaining access to his device.
