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A 78-year-old man from Kerala lost Rs 4 lakh after falling victim to cybercriminals while attempting to cancel a train ticket on the IRCTC website. The scammers posed as railway officials and convinced the man to download an app called ‘Rest Desk’, which allowed them to access his phone. They then withdrew money from his savings account and fixed deposit. The police suspect that the scammers may have connections in Bengal and Bihar. This incident follows a warning from IRCTC about a phishing scheme involving a fake version of their mobile app. Moneycontrol News reported
A 78-year-old gentleman from Kerala has been defrauded of Rs 4 lakh by cybercriminals when attempting to cancel a train ticket through the IRCTC website. The victim unwittingly accessed a counterfeit website resembling the official railway ticketing platform and subsequently received a phone call from an individual masquerading as a railway official.
This unfortunate incident occurred to M. Mohammed Basheer from Kozhikode, who disclosed to Mathurbhumi News that upon visiting the fraudulent website, he was contacted by an imposter claiming to be a railway employee. The fraudster conversed in both English and Hindi and convinced Basheer to download an application called ‘Rest Desk,’ which granted the scammers unauthorized access to his mobile phone. Furthermore, Basheer naively divulged his bank account details and ATM card number to the fake official.
Shortly after, Basheer received a notification indicating that a substantial sum had been withdrawn from his savings account. Alarmed, he promptly visited his bank only to discover that Rs 4 lakh had also been fraudulently withdrawn from his fixed deposit. Despite his attempts to alert the bank following the initial withdrawal, the scammers obstructed his efforts. Consequently, Basheer resorted to formatting his phone as a precautionary measure against further data breaches and promptly reported the incident to both the bank and the police’s cyber cell.
Subsequent investigations uncovered that Basheer had unknowingly installed the ‘Rest Desk’ app, which facilitated the scammers’ intrusion into his mobile device. The fraudulent transactions were carried out in four separate withdrawals, with Rs 4,05,919 being debited from Kolkata. The police now suspect a potential connection between the scammers and individuals from Bengal and Bihar.
This unfortunate incident follows closely after the IRCTC issued a warning regarding a malicious mobile app campaign, wherein fraudsters employ a phishing scheme via a widespread mobile app campaign, posing as legitimate private companies or even government entities.
The scam involves the dissemination of phishing links, persuading users to download a counterfeit version of the IRCTC Rail Connect mobile app. The counterfeit app, known as “irctcconnect.apk,” is being distributed through popular messaging platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram.
Source: https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/78-year-old-man-loses-rs-4-lakh-to-cyber-criminals-via-fake-irctc-website-106-10667928.html.
