PUNE: In a case highlighting the rise of sophisticated mobile malware frauds, a 34-year-old IT professional residing in Ambegaon Budruk was duped of ₹6,40,950 within an hour. The victim was tricked into downloading a rogue Android application disguised as the official government traffic portal after receiving a fake WhatsApp alert about a traffic fine.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) lodged at Ambegaon Police Station, the complainant, an employee at an IT firm in Hinjawadi, received a WhatsApp message on the afternoon of October 9, 2026, from an international virtual number claiming that a ₹1,000 traffic fine had been levied on his electric two-wheeler.
Seeking to verify the violation, the victim clicked on the link embedded in the message. The webpage prompted him to download an installation file titled “NxtGen MParivahan”. Upon launching the app, it displayed a pending challan fee of ₹1. Sensing something amiss, the complainant immediately uninstalled the application, but the malware had already compromised his device.
The malicious APK had stealthily gained administrative permissions, redirecting incoming calls and SMS traffic to an unknown mobile number. Armed with real-time access to incoming One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and device data linked to payment aggregators, the fraudsters drained funds through seven consecutive transactions across four credit cards—ICICI Bank, SBI Card, AU Small Finance Bank, and HDFC Bank—totaling over ₹6.4 lakh.
The complainant promptly flagged the unauthorized debits via the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal helpline (1930) before approaching the Ambegaon police to submit a formal complaint against the unidentified operators and beneficiary account holders.