BMC Employee Duped of ₹3.9 Lakh in Fake Bank Verification Call Scam

Mumbai: A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) employee lost ₹3.9 lakh after cybercriminals posing as bank officials tricked him into downloading a malicious mobile application under the guise of verifying suspicious transactions on his credit card.

The victim, identified as Pankaj Veera Babaria (36), a resident of Tulsiwadi in Tardeo, received a call on October 23 from a person claiming to represent his bank. The caller warned that “international transactions” were being carried out on his credit card and urged him to install an APK file named “YES CREDIT CARD.apk” sent via WhatsApp to stop the fraudulent activity.

Believing the call to be genuine, Babaria downloaded the file and later shared details of his other two credit cards — Bank of Baroda’s One More Card and an RBL Bank card — after the caller claimed there were “technical issues” in processing the request.

Soon after, 14 unauthorized transactions totaling ₹3,90,433 were made from his three credit cards. Babaria later discovered an additional debit of ₹1,79,379 from his bank account.

Following his complaint, the Tardeo Police registered a case under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act. A probe is underway to identify and apprehend the culprits behind the scam.

Police have urged citizens to remain vigilant and avoid downloading APK files or sharing banking details with unknown callers, even if they claim to be from legitimate institutions.