Udupi: A cable operator from Kasaba village in Kundapur taluk was allegedly duped of Rs 1.8 lakh after clicking on a malicious link sent via WhatsApp. The message, posing as an RTO traffic challan alert, led to unauthorised withdrawals and a loan taken in his name.The complainant, Sudhakar, 54, said that on July 21 at around 7.30am, while at home, he received a WhatsApp message with the profile name ‘Trafic E Challen’ containing the text ‘hi, Gi, J’. Shortly afterwards, he received another message from another number which included an APK file named ‘RTO Trafic Challan 500.apk’.Believing that the message came from the Udupi RTO, the complainant clicked on the link. Later, while working in Beejadi, he received messages in his mobile inbox, but due to work pressure, he was unable to check them immediately. Around 2pm, he opened the messages and found that several OTPs and alerts regarding monetary transactions were received.He immediately visited the bank and obtained a statement of his account, only to discover that a loan of Rs 1.2 lakh was taken using his credit card without his knowledge. The fraudsters allegedly withdrew Rs 64,045. A case was registered at the Kundapur police station.
