Ahmedabad Cyber Fraud: Fake M-Parivahan APK Leads to ₹5.90 Lakh Credit Card Fraud
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
A 35-year-old Indian Oil operations manager from Ahmedabad's Narol area lost ₹5.90 lakh after opening a suspicious 'M.Parivahan.apk' file received through WhatsApp, allowing cyber fraudsters to gain access to his mobile phone and misuse his credit card.
The accused allegedly activated call forwarding on his mobile number to intercept banking OTPs and used his ICICI Bank credit card, linked to his Flipkart account, to purchase expensive smartphones through Flipkart Minutes.
How the Fake M-Parivahan APK Led to the Fraud
The victim, Harish Gupta, who lives near Karnavati Apartment-4 in Narol, received an APK file named 'M.Parivahan.apk' from an unknown number on WhatsApp between May 1 and May 7, 2026.
Believing it could be related to the government's transport services, he opened the file but closed it shortly afterwards.
However, on the night of May 7, around 1 am, Gupta received an email from ICICI Bank informing him of a credit card transaction. On checking his account, he discovered that two transactions totalling ₹5.90 lakh had been made without his knowledge or authorisation.
Around the same time, he began receiving OTPs from various companies on his mobile phone.
Fraudsters Used Call Forwarding to Intercept OTPs
During the investigation into the unauthorised transactions, Gupta discovered that the fraudsters had activated call forwarding from his mobile number to another number.
This allegedly allowed them to intercept verification calls and OTPs required to complete financial transactions.
The accused then used his ICICI Bank credit card, linked to his Flipkart account, to place orders for expensive smartphones through Flipkart Minutes.
When Gupta checked the 'My Orders' section of his Flipkart account, he found two invoices for mobile phones that he had not purchased.
Victim Blocks Cards, Files Cybercrime Complaint
After discovering the fraud, Gupta immediately contacted the bank and got his credit cards blocked to prevent further unauthorised transactions.
He also lodged a complaint through the national cybercrime helpline (1930) and performed a factory reset of his mobile phone as a security precaution.
He subsequently approached the Cyber Crime Police and filed a formal complaint. Police have registered a case and launched an investigation to identify the perpetrators and trace the fraudulent transactions.
