Lucknow: Cyber Crime Police have arrested a 22-year-old man from Jharkhand’s Dhanbad for allegedly cheating Green Gas consumers through a fraudulent mobile application, resulting in losses of approximately Rs 32 lakh.
The accused, identified as Vivek Pratap Singh, is a Class 12 graduate and resident of Balaji Nagar in Dhanbad. Police said he had allegedly been operating the fraud for around six months while also working in the transport sector.
According to Additional DCP (Cyber Crime) Kiran Yadav, the accused allegedly employed individuals on salaries to gather household-level details of people using Green Gas connections. This information was reportedly used to identify potential targets and send them WhatsApp messages impersonating the gas service provider.
Victims were persuaded to download an Android application package (APK) on the pretext of updating their gas meters. Once installed, the malicious application allegedly provided unauthorised access to their mobile phones, allowing fraudsters to misuse banking-related information and carry out transactions.
The case surfaced after Lucknow resident Kumud Chandra Agrawal lodged a complaint on September 9, reporting that he had received a WhatsApp APK claiming to be necessary for a Green Gas meter update. Following its installation, approximately Rs 32 lakh was allegedly transferred fraudulently from his accounts.
An FIR was registered at Lucknow Cyber Crime Police Station under Case No. 109/2026. Acting on technical evidence and intelligence inputs, a police team traced and arrested Singh from the Dhanbad police station area.
Police recovered Rs 1,23,400 in cash, two mobile phones, six ATM cards, four Airtel Payments Bank kits and 11 SIM cards during the operation.
Investigators are now examining how consumer information was obtained and whether others were involved in collecting and exploiting the data.
