APK scams cost Navi Mumbai ₹2.68 crore in 42 cases

Some bad people, called cybercriminals, trick grown-ups into downloading special files called APK files onto their phones, pretending the files are apps for paying bills or updating gas connections.

Once the file is installed, the bad people can secretly control the phone and take money from the person's bank account.

In Navi Mumbai, police recorded 178 of these cheating cases between January and July 2026, and people lost a total of more than 68 crore rupees.

Forty-two of the cases used APK files, which caused losses of about 2.68 crore rupees.

Many of the fake files pretended to come from a gas company called Mahanagar Gas.

A 34-year-old man in Panvel downloaded such a file from WhatsApp and lost about 6 lakh rupees.

Police say you should never download APK files sent by strangers, even if they look official.

If a phone suddenly becomes slow or starts doing things on its own, it might be hacked.

If someone is cheated, they should call the cybercrime helpline 1930 right away.

Always ask a trusted adult before downloading anything from an unknown number.