Frauds borrow ₹8 lakh loan in cop’s name after hacking his phone

Nearly a month after he opened a suspicious link and shared his personal details, he learnt about the loan and filed a complaint, said a police officer

MUMBAI: A loan of ₹8.13 lakh was taken in the name of a 49-year-old police constable by unidentified individuals who hacked his phone after he clicked a fake Regional Transport Office (RTO) application link that he received on WhatsApp. Nearly a month after he clicked the link and shared his personal details, he learnt about the loan and filed a complaint, said a police officer.

Frauds borrow ₹8 lakh loan in cop’s name after hacking his phone

According to the police, the police constable, Sharad Pawar, attached to the Local Arms Division in Tardeo, received a link on July 14, in the official duty allocation WhatsApp group from another police constable, mentioning that the link was an application of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to check pending e-challans issued for vehicles. He wanted to check if he had any challans for his vehicle and clicked the link, after which an application automatically downloaded on his phone, said a police officer. “Then a form popped up on his screen where he filled in his personal details. After that, the application had been loading for a long time, and he exited the window,” he added.

The police said that on August 18, when Pawar checked his bank account, the balance was nil. Following this, he visited the bank and raised a complaint. “The bank officials told him that on July 14, a loan of ₹8.13 lakh was taken via the bank’s online portal in his name and that it was subsequently withdrawn in eight transactions,” the officer said.

He then realised that he had opened the link shared by his colleague and filled in his personal details on the same day. “On sharing this with the bank officials, he was advised to approach the police, saying it could be frauds misusing his account,” the officer added.

He then approached the Tardeo police and learnt that the message was sent from the other constable’s phone by frauds who had hacked his phone. “When he clicked on the link, his phone too was hacked after which the message was similarly sent from his phone to all his contacts on WhatsApp,” the police said.

A case was registered on Thursday against the unidentified individuals under sections 318 (cheating) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.