The Mumbai Police have arrested a 36-year-old software developer from Madhya Pradesh for allegedly developing and supplying malicious APK files to cyber fraudsters across the country, with police linking the applications to the defrauding of at least 9,673 people across India.
A case was registered at the Byculla police station under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. The investigation was subsequently taken over by the Property Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch.
The arrest came during the investigation of a case involving a 72-year-old senior citizen from Mumbai, who was allegedly duped of ₹5.62 lakh after being made to download a malicious application named “Senior Citizen Card Verification.apk”.
Senior citizen card
According to the police, the victim received a phone call on August 13 from a person posing as Dinesh Kumar, a relationship manager with Bank of India. The caller allegedly told him that a Senior Citizen Card had to be generated and sent him the APK file. After the victim downloaded the application and entered his personal and debit card details, ₹5.62 lakh was fraudulently transferred from his account. A case was subsequently registered at the Matunga police station.
During the investigation, police traced the malicious APK and identified the alleged developer, a 36-year-old man from Madhya Pradesh, who was subsequently arrested. Police said the accused was a software developer and had dropped out of a B.Tech course at a college in Indore in 2011.
Investigators said the accused would allegedly hire servers, develop malicious APK files and sell them to cyberfraudsters for varying amounts. His entry into the operation allegedly began after a cyberfraudster contacted him and learnt that he was a developer, following which he started supplying such applications to fraudsters.
Police said technical analysis revealed that the accused had developed around 2,805 malicious APK files, which were allegedly used by cybercriminals operating across India.
According to the police, these APKs have been linked to fraud involving at least 9,673 victims across the country. Around 1,930 complaints have been registered on the cybercrime helpline in connection with the applications, including 1,074 complaints from across India, 143 from Maharashtra and 36 from Mumbai, according to the police.
The applications have also been linked to 88 registered cybercrime cases across India, including eight in Maharashtra and five in Mumbai, police said.
Laptop seized
Police said they seized a laptop, two mobile phones, three hard disks and a pen drive from the accused. Technical examination indicated that the seized material contained server infrastructure belonging to various companies, according to police.
The Property Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch is conducting further investigation to identify the cyberfraudsters who allegedly purchased and used the APKs, trace the wider network operating across different States and determine whether more victims are linked to the applications.
Police said the number of victims could see a rise as the investigation progresses.
