APK files disguised as fake invitations used to cheat 2 of Rs8.5L

Pune: Cybercrooks used ‘.APK files’ disguised as wedding invitations to target two people and duped them of Rs 8.5 lakh collectively between May 2 and 17.

Separate cases have been registered with the Khadak and Faraskhana police stations on Thursday. An Android Package Kit (APK) file (comes in a format of ‘.APK’) is a compressed archive for a cellphone application.

On May 7, a hardware shopowner (47) from Ganesh Peth received an ‘.APK file’ as a wedding invitation from his friend’s cellphone number. He tried to open the file but could not do so. He shared the file with his wife, but she was also unable to open it.

“He then contacted his friend and came to know that his friend’s cellphone had been hacked, and such files were sent to his contacts. The complainant immediately deleted that file,” an officer from the Faraskhana police said.

He said the complainant started receiving debit messages on May 15. The crooks siphoned Rs 5.57 lakh through six transactions from his bank account.

“The complainant claimed that when he realised the fraud, he contacted his bank and requested that they stop the debits. He was told to visit a bank branch. By the time he could visit a branch of his bank, six transactions had been made,” he said.

The officer said his bank account also got a credit of Rs 1.14 lakh on May 17. “The complainant overall lost Rs 4.43 lakh in the fraud,” the officer said.

Similarly, a stamp vendor (54) from Guruwar Peth received an invitation file from his cousin’s cellphone number on May 2. He could not open it, but after some time, his cousin alerted him that his cellphone had been hacked.

“Four days later, Rs 4.1 lakh was siphoned off from the vendor’s bank account on May 6,” the officer said.