High Court judge falls prey: ₹6 Lakh swiped via fake app in cyber fraud bite
Scammers posed as bank officials, tricked judge into downloading app on maid's Android phone
Mumbai (The Uttam Hindu): A shocking case of cyber fraud has come to light from the country's financial capital Mumbai, which has even alerted the security agencies. This time, the cunning cyber fraudsters have targeted not a common man but a sitting judge of the Bombay High Court. The fraudsters cleverly siphoned off more than Rs 6 lakh from the judge's bank account. However, considering the seriousness of the case, Mumbai's Cuffe Parade Police took prompt action and arrested the 25-year-old mastermind of this fraud from the infamous 'Jamtara' area of Jharkhand.
A trap set around credit card reward points
Police investigations have revealed that the entire incident began on February 28th. The High Court judge wanted to redeem reward points earned on his credit card. He first tried contacting the bank's customer service, but the number was constantly busy. He then turned to the internet and searched for the customer care number. He had no idea that the number that appeared at the top of his Google search results was not genuine, but a fraud perpetrated by cyber criminals.
The link on the iPhone didn't work, so the game was played using the maid's phone
Upon calling the fake number found on the internet, a cunning fraudster called the judge, claiming to be a bank official. He cleverly engaged the judge in conversation and sent a link to his mobile phone, asking him to download an 18MB app (APK file). When the app could not be installed on the judge's iPhone due to security reasons, the fraudster advised him to use an Android phone. Falling for the fraud's sweet talk, the judge inserted his SIM card into the Android phone of his maid and downloaded the fake app. As soon as he entered his credit card details into the app, Rs 6.02 lakh was debited from his account.
Police from 10 states were searching for this dreaded cyber criminal
The judge realized the magnitude of the fraud he had suffered when he received a message claiming that lakhs of rupees had been deducted from his account. Without delay, he immediately filed a complaint at the Cuffe Parade police station. The police registered the case and launched a high-tech investigation. After nearly 10 days of hard work, with the help of the Jamtara Cyber Cell and the Karmatand police, they arrested the accused, Mazhar Alam Israel Mian. The investigation revealed another shocking revelation: this arrested accused is no stranger, having more than 36 criminal cases of cyber fraud registered against him in approximately 10 states across the country. The police have also cautioned the public not to blindly trust customer care numbers found online and to avoid installing any unknown links or apps on their mobile phones at the behest of anyone.