A 42-year-old furniture shop owner in Bengaluru lost nearly Rs 5 lakh after cyber fraudsters allegedly gained remote access to his mobile phone through a malicious wedding invitation file sent on WhatsApp. According to the complaint, the victim received a file titled “Wedding APK Invitation” from a phone number belonging to an acquaintance. Believing it to be a genuine wedding invite, he downloaded and opened the APK file.
Investigators suspect the file contained malware designed to give fraudsters remote access to the victim’s mobile device. Soon after installing it, multiple unauthorised transactions were carried out from his bank account without his knowledge.
By the time the victim realised something was wrong, around Rs 5 lakh had already been siphoned off.
The victim, a resident of Nayandahalli in Bengaluru, later approached the police, suspecting he had fallen victim to a cyberattack carried out through the fake invitation.
Police have registered a case under Section 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act.
An investigation is underway to trace the accused and track the money trail.
Cybercrime experts have repeatedly warned against downloading APK files received through messaging apps, especially from unknown or unexpected sources. Such files can bypass official app store security checks and may contain malware capable of stealing banking details, passwords, and personal information.
In a similar incident last year, a Gurugram man got hacked the same way after he received a wedding invitation on WhatsApp. Curious to see whose invite it was, he clicked on the link, unknowingly allowing his phone to be hacked.
By the time he realised what happened, unauthorised transactions worth Rs 97,000 were made from his bank account. After that, he complained to Gurugram police, who then initiated an investigation.
The incidents highlight that cybercriminals are constantly coming up with new ways to scam people, and the public must remain vigilant. Never click on links from unknown sources, no matter how convincing they appear, to avoid falling victim to similar frauds.
Source: India Today