C
Mumbai: A 36-year-old software developer from Madhya Pradesh, who allegedly developed and sold malicious APK files to cyber fraudsters, has been arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch. Police said the APKs were used by various cybercrime gangs to cheat at least 9,673 people across India, causing losses of around Rs 15.75 crore. However, investigators suspect that the fraudsters may have cheated victims of more than Rs 150 crore using the APKs developed by the accused. “During the analysis of the APK files developed by the accused, we found that fraudsters are believed to have cheated more than Rs 150 crore and the amount is still being assessed. During the investigation, police found that Gupta had allegedly sold 2,805 malicious APK files to various cybercrime gangs. Complaints from 1,074 victims were registered on the Cyber Crime Helpline 1930, including 143 from Maharashtra and 36 from Mumbai. So far, police have identified 88 cases across India, including eight in Maharashtra and five in Mumbai.
Police said he made substantial money through the activity over the past three years. We have arrested him and are now looking for several fraudster gangs that purchased the APK files from him,” said Raj Tilak Roshan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime). The accused, identified as Pankaj Avhdesh Gupta, is a resident of Indore and had dropped out of engineering college during his second year. Hailing from an affluent family, Gupta initially developed gaming applications. During this period, he allegedly learnt to develop APK files and subsequently began selling them to cybercriminals. The Crime Branch is now probing the cybercrime gangs that purchased the APKs from Gupta and is tracing additional victim
The case came to light after a 72-year-old senior citizen from Byculla was allegedly cheated of Rs 5.62 lakh on August 13.
After gaining his confidence, the accused sent an APK file named “Senior Citizen Card Verification.apk” through WhatsApp and allegedly induced him to enter his personal and debit card details, following which Rs 5.62 lakh was siphoned off. The fraudster allegedly impersonated Dinesh Kumar, a senior manager of Bank of India, and offered to help the victim obtain a Senior Citizen Card.
The Byculla Police initially registered a case under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the BNS and Information Technology Act. The investigation was subsequently transferred to the Property Cell led by inspector Mangesh Desai.