Rajkot: A 74-year-old city man was duped of Rs 10.66 lakh by cybercriminals after downloading a malicious mobile application disguised as a traffic e-challan.In his FIR lodged at Cyber Crime police station, Chirag Dedkiya, 41, stated that on Dec 30, 2025, his father, Babu, received a WhatsApp message from the number of a known relative. The message contained a file named “RTO E-CHALAN.APK”. Believing it to be a genuine traffic challan, he downloaded the file, which turned out to be malware. Police said the application gave the cybercriminals unauthorized remote access to his smartphone.Investigators said the fraudsters activated call and SMS forwarding on the device, enabling them to intercept one-time passwords (OTPs) without the victim’s knowledge. The number was also linked to his wife’s bank account, which became the target.Using the intercepted OTPs, the accused carried out 10 transactions and siphoned off Rs 10.66 lakh from the account. The stolen money was mainly used to pay credit card bills across various banks, police said.On realizing the fraud, the family contacted the cybercrime helpline and registered a complaint on the national portal. Police said prompt reporting helped freeze and reverse two transactions, leading to the recovery of Rs 1.86 lakh.A case was registered against unidentified persons under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66 of the Information Technology Act.
