THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police have flagged the cyber users about a new cyber financial scam in which the fraudsters tempt gullible people into downloading APK (Android Package Kit) files under the guise of helping them book hospital appointments and then siphon off money from their bank accounts.
The social media centre of the state police said the fraudsters target people who search the internet to access contact details of hospitals and to book appointment online.
When people contact the fake numbers placed by the fraudsters, which appears on Google search results, the fraudsters convince the callers to download the APK files that were sent to their WhatsApp.
The files would be named in such a way so as to mislead unsuspecting people, who think it’s genuine, the centre said in a statement. Upon downloading the fake APK files, the user’s phone is hacked remotely, compromising the UPI services and OTPs, resulting in the hacker committing unauthorised financial transactions.
The statement said the APK files can lead to misuse of payment apps on the phone and installation of unknown payment apps without consent of the user.If the user has activated UPI Lite feature, a separate OTP is not required for small-value transactions.
The police cautioned that if unauthorised transactions of less than `1,000 are observed, it could mean malicious actors are at play. The police said the public should collect contact numbers of institutions from their website or verified social media.