Hyderabad: A 48-year-old tailor from Moghalpura, Hyderabad, narrowly escaped a loss of Rs 1.18 lakh after falling victim to a malicious APK fraud on September 11, 2025. The victim received an APK file named “RTO CHALLAN” via WhatsApp and mistakenly installed it on his phone, which allowed fraudsters unauthorised access. They intercepted banking One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and carried out fraudulent transactions, leading to a debit of Rs 95,239 on his credit card.

The police swiftly intervened, removing the malware and cancelling fraudulent orders worth Rs 95,239 from platforms such as Flipkart, Amazon, and Myntra, where saved card details enabled the undetected theft. In a similar case, a 35-year-old tech professional from Ashok Nagar was also targeted. Orders worth Rs 23,532 were blocked thanks to timely police action. Cybercrime units have issued a warning to the public against downloading APK files from unknown sources shared via WhatsApp, SMS, or social media.