Team Herald
CALANGUTE: A Candolim
resident was swindled out
of Rs 2.6 lakh in an online
scam after installing an
APK application, purportedly
for customer support.
Manuel Fernandes, a resident
of Orda-Candolim,
had sent his Yamaha motorcycle
to a service centre
in Madhya Pradesh for repairs
in January. Once the
repairs were completed,
the bike was shipped back
to him via a courier service.
However, what should
have been a routine delivery
soon turned into a
costly ordeal. During the
process of retrieving his
motorcycle, Fernandes
was contacted by an unknown
individual who
advised him to install a
customer support APK
application to facilitate
an early delivery. Trusting
the instructions, he downloaded
and installed the
app and was subsequently
asked to transfer Rs 1 to
the contact person.
Shortly after the motorcycle
was delivered to Goa,
Fernandes was shocked to
discover that Rs 2.6 lakh
had been withdrawn from
his bank account through
the fraudulent application.
Attempts to contact the individual
who had instructed
him to install the app
proved futile. Realising he
had fallen victim to a cyber
scam, Fernandes lodged
a complaint on Saturday
with the Calangute police.
A case has since been registered
against unknown
persons under the IT Act,
with the incident having
occurred between February
2 and 3. Further investigations
are underway.
Cyber Crime Police Station
PI Deepak Pednekar,
speaking at a cyber crime
awareness meeting in
Calangute last week, had
warned the public against
downloading applications
ending in .apk. “Do not click
on unknown links or files
with .apk at the end, as
these are often used by
fraudsters. The moment
you click on the link,
the file gets downloaded
onto your phone, granting
scammers access to all
the data on your device,” he
cautioned.
He further emphasised
that such scams make it
easier for fraudsters to
gain access to victims’
bank accounts, urging the
public to remain vigilant
and avoid downloading
suspicious applications.