Retired railway officer loses Rs 32.42 lakh to cyber fraud a day after Oct 31 retirement

Nagpur: Cyber criminals defrauded an officer who retired from the railways on October 31 of Rs 32.42 lakh just two days after his retirement. Under the pretext of updating his Ummeed medical card, they sent him an APK file. As soon as he downloaded it, the fraudsters broke into his bank account and siphoned off the entire amount he had received on retirement. The incident has caused a stir in the railway department.

Ravindra Singh Banafar, 60, a resident of Amravati Road, was working as an Assistant Works Officer in the railways. He retired on October 31. Railway officers and employees are issued an Ummeed medical card, through which they and their families receive treatment at railway-affiliated hospitals.

On the morning of November 2, Banafar received a call on his mobile from an unknown person. The caller claimed to be Hemraj Vishwakarma, an APO officer of the railways, and said Banafar's Ummeed medical card had to be updated. He said he was sending an app to the mobile phone, which Banafar would have to download.

After assuring Banafar that he was a railway officer, the fraudster sent an APK file instead of an app. Taking him at his word, Banafar downloaded the file. This gave the criminals access to important information on his phone. To keep up his credibility, the fraudster also asked him for details of his family members, his mobile number and his Aadhaar number. Meanwhile, the criminals withdrew Rs 32,42,150 from his bank account. The money was what he had received from the railways after retirement. Banafar was stunned to see the savings of a lifetime's service vanish in an instant. He complained to the police immediately. On the basis of his complaint, the cyber police have registered a case under the charges of cheating and the IT Act and begun an investigation.

Suspicion of an insider in the railways

The most startling aspect of the case is that Banafar had retired only on October 31, and just two days later the criminals got the chance to call him citing the process of updating his medical card. It is therefore feared that the criminals may already have had information on railway officers and employees due to retire. The possibility that someone connected with the railways plays a role in the gang cannot be ruled out either. However, this can be confirmed only after the police investigation.

It is said that attempts were also made to target other railway officers and employees in the name of updating the Ummeed medical card. Several people escaped the fraudsters' trap, but Banafar lost a lifetime's earnings right after his retirement. This is not the first case of money being siphoned from bank accounts by breaking into mobile phones through an APK file. Even so, people continue to fall into the trap of cyber criminals.