Ahmedabad: A 24-year-old businessman was allegedly cheated of Rs 2.3 lakh after he downloaded a fake transport-related mobile application through a link sent to him in an SMS, police said.According to a complaint lodged with Bodakdev police, the businessman received an SMS purportedly from the transport department. The message contained vehicle details and a link. Believing it to be genuine, he clicked on the link and was prompted to download an application.The application sought access to his contacts, gallery and SMS messages. The businessman granted the permissions, but when the app did not show any vehicle-related information, he uninstalled it.Soon after, he began receiving several SMS alerts containing OTPs. He initially ignored the messages. On Sept 6, he received around 10 SMS alerts about debit transactions.When he checked his company’s current account, he found that Rs 49,999 had been debited. He then checked his personal savings account and found nine unauthorised transactions totalling Rs 1.8 lakh.The complainant told police that the transactions were not carried out by him and suspected that fraudsters had accessed confidential banking information through the malicious app.He contacted 1930, the cybercrime helpline, and reported the incident. Police have collected the bank statements and are investigating the transactions and the unidentified persons involved in the alleged cyberfraud.
