Ahmedabad Man Loses ₹2.04 Lakh After Fraudster Posing As Adani Gas Official Sends APK File
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
Summarized by AI; it may make mistakes. Check important info
A 35-year-old private company employee from Hathijan allegedly lost ₹2.04 lakh after a fraudster posing as an Adani Gas official allegedly sent him an APK file through WhatsApp on the pretext of updating his gas bill.
Fake Gas Bill Update Used To Trap Victim
According to a complaint filed at Vivekanandanagar police station on September 23, complainant Vikas Shaileshkumar Panchal said he was at his workplace in Naroda GIDC on September 20 when he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number.
The message contained a form purportedly meant to update his Adani gas bill. Soon after opening the message, Panchal allegedly received a call from another unknown number.
The caller allegedly told him that his Adani gas bill was pending. When Panchal said he had no outstanding bill, the caller offered to send him an APK file through WhatsApp to update his account.
The caller subsequently sent the APK file from another mobile number and instructed Panchal to open it and enter his details. He was then allegedly asked to make a ₹10 payment to complete the purported bill update.
The request raised Panchal's suspicion and he disconnected the call.
₹2.04 Lakh Debited From Two Credit Cards
However, shortly afterwards, Panchal received an email from ICICI Bank informing him that ₹1.70 lakh had been debited from his credit card.
A second alert from Axis Bank followed, informing him that another ₹34,000 had been debited from his Axis Bank credit card.
The total amount allegedly lost in the two transactions was ₹2.04 lakh.
Panchal immediately contacted the national cybercrime helpline 1930 after suspecting that he had fallen victim to cyber fraud. He subsequently approached Vivekanandanagar police station and lodged a complaint.
Money Trail Under Police Scanner
According to the complaint, ₹1,70,497.10 debited from the ICICI Bank credit card was credited to an account allegedly held in the name of Reliance Retail Limited.
The ₹34,000 transaction from the Axis Bank credit card was allegedly transferred to an account linked to Ratnakar Bank Ltd.
Panchal alleged that the caller gained his confidence by posing as an Adani Gas representative and used the APK file to facilitate the unauthorised transactions.
Vivekanandanagar police have registered a case and launched an investigation. Police are tracing the mobile numbers used in the alleged fraud, identifying the recipients of the money and examining the transaction trail.
