Bollywood assistant director loses Rs 3.39 lakh in KYC fraud in Mumbai

A man working in Bollywood as an assistant director lost Rs 3.39 lakh after online fraudsters duped him on the pretext of updating the Know Your Customer (KYC) details of his bank, police said on Thursday.

According to news agency PTI, the complainant, Chetan Desai, told the police that he received a message last week from an unknown number. The message stated that his bank account had been closed, an officer from Oshiwara Police Station said.

Desai immediately called the sender of the message, who told him that the account was closed owing to incomplete KYC details. He also asked Desai to update the information and sent a link for it, PTI reported.

Soon after the complainant opened the link and put in the information, including his account number, PAN card number and Aadhaar number, he received multiple messages stating that money has been withdrawn from his bank, the officer said.

Desai lost Rs 3.39 lakh, following which he approached the police and lodged a complaint, PTI reported.

Efforts are underway to trace the bank to which the money was transferred, the officer informed.

Mumbai: Fraudsters luring victims over pending e-challans, say police

The LT Marg police have booked a gang for allegedly duping people in a new cyber fraud where victims are lured into downloading malicious files, after which money is siphoned off their bank accounts.

Police said the cybercriminals approached the victims on the pretext of pending e-challans via text messages. Two such cases were registered at the LT Marg police station in the span of two months. “The message the victims received looked like it was sent by mParivahan,” said a police officer. mParivahan is a government app developed by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways that provides access to various transport-related services and information. 

“In this case, the victims received messages stating their e-challans were due and urging them to make urgent payments. The due amount was mentioned, and once the victims attempted to make the payment, they were directed to a link where the transaction was supposed to be completed,” the official added.

A victim told mid-day that the link led to the download of an .apk file, which was then installed on their mobile phone. An .apk file, or Android Package Kit, is the file format used to distribute and install applications on Android devices.

“The .apk file was downloaded when the victim clicked the link. It appeared as though the mParivahan app was being installed, but no such app actually got downloaded. Instead, it was a malicious application—a software that gives cybercriminals access to the victim’s phone and all the data stored on the device,” explained a cyber cell officer.

In most cases, cyber fraudsters use personal and sensitive information from a victim’s device to siphon money from their bank accounts. “Typically, the money is transferred to other bank accounts. But in this case, the fraudsters used the stolen money to book movie or event tickets,” the officer said. 

Following a month-long investigation, the LT Marg police said they managed to trace the mastermind behind the operation. Two persons have been identified, and their arrests are expected soon, confirmed police officers privy to investigations. 

(With PTI inputs)