Senior citizen loses ₹26.52 lakh to online fraudsters; FIR registered

The Central division cybercrime police on Monday registered an FIR against an unknown person who, posing as an RTO official, cheated a senior citizen by sending a fake RTO challan link, resulting in a financial loss of over ₹26.52 lakh.

According to the complaint, a 64-year-old resident of Ejipura received a message from an unknown mobile number claiming it to be an RTO challan update. The message contained an APK file, which the complainant downloaded believing it to be genuine. Soon after installing the file, the complainant noticed suspicious activity on his mobile phone.

Subsequently, the complainant’s two bank accounts were compromised. On December 25, 2025, unauthorised transactions were carried out as the fraudsters used the fake RTO challan application as a tool to gain access to the victim’s banking details. The victim raised a complaint with the banks and blocked his accounts, but in vain.

Further investigation revealed that on December 24, 2025, a total ₹26,52,434 was illegally transferred from the complainant’s accounts without his consent.

In a similar case, a 63-year-old resident of Vittal Mallya road lost ₹1.9 lakh to the APK file scam. According to the complaint filed on January 4, he received a text message containing a traffic violation legal issue . He clicked on the link and added his account number. Minutes later, he realised a total of ₹1.9 lakh has been deducted from his savings account.

In another case, a 31-year-old private firm employee and resident of Gubbalala also lost ₹2.2 lakh to a similar fraud. According to him, he received a message on his mobile informing about a traffic fine of ₹500 on his car was pending. He clicked on the link and paid the “fine” through his credit card only to realise later that his credit card account had been hacked and the amount transferred. He rejected the transaction and raised the complaint with online cybercrime helpline before approaching the south division cybercrime police on Saturday.

The police have advised people not to access any APK links. Neither the transport nor the traffic officials sent such information to individual accounts, a senior police official said.