Ahmedabad: Saving credit card details on online platforms can prove costly if cybercriminals gain access to a user’s phone or account. A 35-year-old operations manager allegedly lost Rs 5.9 lakh after fraudsters used a fake transport app sent via WhatsApp to take control of his phone and carry out two unauthorised credit card transactions.According to the complaint filed on Friday, the victim received an APK file named “Mparivahan“ on WhatsApp during the first week of May. Believing it to be a genuine application, he opened the file. He later suspected that the APK file enabled fraudsters to access his phone and divert incoming calls to another number.The fraud came to light a few days later when he checked his email and found bank alerts for two unauthorised transactions amounting to Rs 5.9 lakh on his credit card. The purchases were made through an online platform where his card details had been saved.On checking the shopping app, he found two invoices for mobile phones ordered through Flipkart Minutes. Around the same time, OTP messages from various companies started arriving on his phone, leading him to suspect that the fraudsters were intercepting authentication codes through diverted calls.The complainant immediately contacted the bank and blocked the credit card. As a precaution, he also blocked the credit cards linked to his other bank accounts.He later formatted his phone, removing the malicious APK file, and reported the incident to the cybercrime helpline 1930. He also submitted a written complaint to the cybercrime police station seeking action against the fraudsters.
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