Ahmedabad: A 76-year-old retired banker lost Rs 11.4 lakh to cyberfraudsters after downloading a fake customer support application sent through WhatsApp by a man posing as a bank manager.According to the FIR lodged by the Cybercrime police, the complainant, who served at a public sector bank for 16 years, was a member of a WhatsApp group of retired bank employees where work-related information was regularly shared.On June 14, he noticed a link labelled ‘bank help’ in the group but did not open it immediately. Two days later, he clicked on the link and contacted the WhatsApp number that appeared. The person on the other end introduced himself as Amit Kumar, claiming to be a manager with the bank.Kumar allegedly told him that the complainant was not receiving the benefit of the concession in bank locker charges given to retired employees. He promised to resolve the issue and contacted the complainant the next day.The fraudster then sent an Android application file named ‘customersupport.apk’ on WhatsApp and instructed the complainant to install it and enter details of his debit cards. Soon after, the victim started receiving multiple OTP messages on his phone.Before he could react, money was withdrawn from two of his bank accounts and a joint account he held with his daughter. Police said the fraudsters also prematurely closed four fixed deposits linked to his accounts before transferring the money.A total of Rs 11.4 lakh was siphoned off through multiple transactions, including online transfers and a payment gateway.The victim approached his banks and reported the fraud to the national cybercrime helpline. A case of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy was registered under BNS and the Information Technology Act.
