Mumbai, Oct 5 (PTI) The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a software developer from Madhya Pradesh for allegedly operating an interstate cybercrime syndicate that defrauded senior citizens and other people across India of over Rs 15.75 crore using malicious APK files, police said on Monday.
An investigation revealed the 36-year-old accused had created and sold 2,805 malicious APK files to various cyber-criminal gangs, which were subsequently used to cheat 9,673 people nationwide, an official said.
It may be noted that a malicious APK (Android Package Kit) file is a counterfeit or infected Android application designed to steal sensitive data, intercept OTPs, or take remote control of a mobile device.
The fraud came to light after a 72-year-old Mumbai resident was duped of Rs 5.62 lakh on August 13. The caller, posing as a senior bank official, tricked the victim into installing a file named “Senior Citizen Card Verification.apk” via WhatsApp under the pretext of issuing a card for the elderly and coerced him into entering personal details and debit card information, the official added.
Based on the victim’s complaint, an FIR was initially registered at the Byculla Police Station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.
The case was later transferred to the Property Cell and Cyber Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch, leading to the identification and arrest of the software developer in MP following technical analysis.
During a raid at his office in Madhya Pradesh, police seized a CPU, three hard disks, a pen drive, a Wi-Fi router, and three mobile phones, the official said, adding preliminary probe showed the accused was utilising servers from various service provider companies, he stated.
Analysis of complaints on the national cyber helpline ‘1930’ linked these malicious applications to 1,074 nationwide cases, including 143 in Maharashtra (36 of them in Mumbai), with 88 formal FIRs registered across India so far. PTI ZA RSY
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.