Candolim man loses Rs 2.6L to e-fraud after bike repaired in MP

Calangute: Manuel Fernandes, a resident of Orda, Candolim, has filed a complaint stating that he has lost Rs 2.6 lakh to online fraudsters.
Calangute police said they received the complaint from Fernandes that he had sent his motorcycle to a service centre in Madhya Pradesh for repairs in Jan. After the bike was repaired, it was sent back to him through a courier service.
However, during the process of delivering the bike back, an unknown person got in touch with Fernandes and asked him to click a ‘customer support’ APK (android package kit, used to download apps) link to get early delivery of his bike.
When he installed the app, Fernandes was asked to send Re 1 to the person. After the motorcycle was delivered in Goa, Fernandes was shocked to discover that Rs 2.6 lakh had been withdrawn from his bank account through the app. The withdrawals occurred between Feb 2 and 3.
As he was unable to contact the person who had asked him to install the app, Fernandes on Saturday lodged a complaint with Calangute police who have registered an offence against unknown persons under the IT Act. Further investigations are on.
Last week, during an awareness meeting at Calangute, cybercrime police station inspector Deepak Pednekar warned people not to download any app with a .apk tag as they could be fraud apps.
“Online frauds have entered all fields. It’s a time of cybercrime pandemic,” he said. “Don’t think it won’t happen to you. Everybody will be affected by it. Only one safeguard will save you — awareness.”
He urged people to approach police the moment they suspect any dodgy activity. “People usually report a cybercrime after one or two months, by which time the scamsters have vanished and there’s no possibility of tracing them,” he said.