Prateek Tanmay
3 min readBengaluruJul 21, 2026 12:42 PM IST
A senior officer with the Karnataka forest department in Bengaluru has allegedly lost close to Rs 10 lakh after clicking a malicious link disguised as a wedding invitation sent to his WhatsApp, in what police suspect was an Android Package Kit (APK)-based phishing scam, the police said on Monday.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), Rameshbabu V, 50, a resident of Yeshwanthpur who currently works as a deputy range forest officer, received a WhatsApp message on July 14 containing what appeared to be a wedding invitation link. The message included an APK file, which he downloaded and opened.
Shortly after, between 4.40 pm and 4.55 pm the same day, Rameshbabu began receiving a stream of bank transaction alerts, and on checking he found multiple unauthorised fund transfers had taken place from his Bank of Baroda account without his knowledge, the police said. The police also discovered that all UPI IDs linked to his phone had been deleted.
In all, the fraudsters siphoned off Rs 9,96,659 from his account through a series of transfers before he could act. Rameshbabu approached the North CEN Crime Police Station and filed a complaint on July 15, a day after the fraud took place. The police have registered a case under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Similar case reported in May
In a similar case in May, a 42-year-old businessman in Bengaluru allegedly lost Rs 5 lakh after he tapped on the WhatsApp message, which was a wedding invite. The message read, “We’re happy to invite you to our wedding. Kindly download the attached invitation for complete details of the ceremony. Your presence and blessings will make our special day truly memorable. We look forward to celebrating this beautiful moment with you.” The message also carried a .apk file, which the businessman clicked, leading to compromise of his mobile phone.
According to a police officer, people are likely to click the .apk file assuming it could be a marriage location or the invitation. “It would be sufficient for the cyber fraudsters to take control over the phone. Clicking links from unknown numbers can lead to compromise of not just mobile phones but also apps like Camera, Google Pay, bank apps, and other data stored in the phone,” the officer added.
According to the Karnataka Police, the .apk file-related frauds in the state are on the rise. In 2024, the state reported around 325 cases, while in 2025 it was 944. This year, till April, the state reported 458 cases.
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The officer said that the common .apk fraud file names are ‘Wedding Invite’, ‘PM Kisan Beneficiary’, ‘India Post Address’, ‘RTO traffic challan’, ‘ITR refund’, ‘Amazon part time jobs’ and ‘PAN KYC Mandatory verification’.”
