MANGALURU
The Mangaluru Cyber, Economic, and Narcotics (CEN) Police have registered two separate cheating cases involving online fraud one targeting an elderly woman through malicious software and another duping a solar entrepreneur of substantial funds.
In the first incident, a 65-year-old resident of the city lost ₹1,40,392 after receiving a malware-laden Android application package (APK) file titled ‘PM Kisan’ on WhatsApp. The file arrived from an unknown sender on a mobile number the complainant had maintained for 15 years. Unaware of the malware, the victim noticed a fraudulent debit from her Canara Bank account on September 15. Following inquiries at the Valencia bank branch confirming the unauthorized transfer, she approached the CEN police station seeking recovery and action against the cybercriminals.
In a separate commercial fraud case, a 33-year-old local solar installation businessman was cheated of ₹6,15,500. For the past six months, the entrepreneur had been regularly procuring solar equipment from Mumbai-based ‘Mfines Solar Company’. When placing a fresh consignment, he was contacted by Pawan Mandlekar, a former consultant with the firm.
Mandlekar falsely claimed the company’s official corporate account was facing technical issues and routed payments to alternative bank accounts. Between August 25 and September 7, the victim transferred ₹5,15,500 from Karnataka Bank to a Kotak Mahindra Bank account and ₹1,00,000 from IDFC Bank to a UCO Bank account via UPI and IMPS. When the materials failed to arrive, the businessman contacted the company head, discovering that Mandlekar had already resigned and no order had been booked. Police have booked Mandlekar and launched an investigation.
