Team Goemkarponn
CURCHOREM: A resident of Candolim was deceived out of Rs 2.6 lakh in an online scam after he installed an APK application, which was falsely claimed to be for customer support. Manuel Fernandes, who lives in Orda-Candolim, had sent his Yamaha motorcycle to a service center in Madhya Pradesh for repairs back in January.
Once the repairs were finished, the motorcycle was shipped back to him through a courier service. However, what was supposed to be a straightforward delivery soon turned into an expensive nightmare.
While trying to retrieve his motorcycle, Fernandes received a call from an unknown person who suggested that he install a customer support APK application to expedite the delivery. Believing the advice, he downloaded and installed the app, after which he was prompted to transfer Rs 1 to the contact person.
Just after the motorcycle arrived in Goa, Fernandes was horrified to find that Rs 2.6 lakh had been extracted from his bank account via the fraudulent application. Attempts to reach the person who had instructed him to install the app were unsuccessful.
Upon realizing he had been a victim of a cyber fraud, Fernandes filed a complaint with the Calangute police on Saturday. A case has now been registered against unidentified individuals under the IT Act, with the incident reportedly taking place between February 2 and 3. Ongoing investigations are in process.
PI Deepak Pednekar from the Cyber Crime Police Station, speaking at a cyber crime awareness event in Calangute last week, had cautioned the public about downloading applications that end with .apk. “Avoid clicking on unknown links or files with .apk at the end, as these are frequently used by scammers. The instant you click the link, the file downloads onto your phone, allowing fraudsters access to all the information on your device,” he warned.
He also stressed that such scams simplify the process for fraudsters to access victims’ bank accounts, urging the public to stay alert and refrain from downloading suspicious applications.
