Top News

Hyderabad: While scrolling Facebook, a man ended up losing Rs 1.75 lakh after he clicked on a link advertising a free movie app.

The Cyberabad police on Tuesday, May 5, issued an advisory against downloading unverified apps, using the incident where a person lost lakhs of rupees minutes after downloading an app through a pop-up advertisement.

“Watch the latest movies for free – download the app now!” read the label, which led the complainant to a website named gdpr.tubi.tv. He downloaded the app from the website, as it looked legitimate and even watched a movie, the police said.

However, minutes later, the complainant’s device initiated a software update without prior notification. He then began encountering multiple issues as his mobile phone stopped functioning. His Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app was unresponsive, and other applications failed to open.

After checking his bank balance, he discovered that Rs 80,000 had been debited from his account. Similarly, Rs 95,000 was debited from his mother’s account, which was managed in his phone as well.

The Cyberabad police explained that the app Tubi TV was malware designed to mimic the original under the same name. It infiltrated his phone, intercepted SMS messages and OTPs, and gained unauthorised access to his banking applications. The victim’s money was siphoned directly from his account through the malware.

Citizens were cautioned from trusting “Free Movie” links found on social media and clicking on “Software Update” notifications. The police also urged not to download any APK files or apps from unknown sources and perform Mobile Operating System updates exclusively through official phone settings.