APK scam drains ₹24 lakh from Mysuru senior citizen

Mysuru: A senior citizen lost over Rs 24 lakh after fraudsters allegedly installed an APK file on her smartphone, with the crime going undetected for months as she did not check her bank statements.

CEN police, who have registered an FIR, said the woman last withdrew money from her account in June 2025 and visited the bank again only in May this year, when officials told her there was insufficient balance, revealing the fraud.

Police sources said the accused siphoned off more than Rs 24 lakh between Feb and April 2026 using the APK file. Though the woman deleted the file, the fraudsters continued to access and transfer funds from her account. The case was registered following a complaint through the Cyber Helpline 1930.

Officials stressed the need to periodically verify bank balances and statements. “Customers should verify their bank statements at least once every three months to ensure that their money is safe and no unauthorised transactions have taken place,” a bank official said.

In another cyber fraud, an import-export company was cheated after fraudsters sent an email claiming the beneficiary’s bank account details had changed. The company updated the details and continued transfers to the new account.

The fraud surfaced after a vendor flagged non-receipt of payments. “This incident could have been avoided if the company had verified the change in bank account details directly with the beneficiary before making the transfers,” an officer said.