Home / Crime and Justice / EC Scam: Principal Loses Rs 17 Lakh Via APK Download
EC Scam: Principal Loses Rs 17 Lakh Via APK Download
15 Aug
Summary
- Retired principal lost Rs 17 lakh to a scammer impersonating an EC official.
- Scammer tricked victim into downloading an APK file for voter list update.
- Cyber police registered an FIR against three unknown individuals on August 10.
On August 8, a retired college principal from Deonar fell victim to a sophisticated scam, losing Rs 17 lakh. The perpetrator, posing as an Election Commission official, contacted the principal regarding an alleged error in his father's name on the voter list. He was instructed to download an APK file to update his Special Intensive Revision (SIR) information before an impending deadline.
Upon downloading the APK, the scammer gained remote access to the principal's mobile device. The victim was then prompted to transfer Rs 5 as a processing fee to complete the update. Subsequently, five fraudulent transactions totaling Rs 17 lakh were made from his accounts. The funds were channeled to accounts in a private bank and two nationalized banks.
The East Region cyber police station has registered a First Information Report (FIR) against three unidentified individuals on August 10. This incident marks the first known case of an SIR scam utilizing an APK file for remote device access and data theft. Investigations are ongoing to apprehend the perpetrators.
