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31-year-old Indian man loses ₹1.11 lakh to fraudulent charity donation link on WhatsApp via third-party RPC app scam in 2024

Dec 13, 2024Golthamajalu village, Bantwal Taluk, Karnataka, India1 source

Summary

A 31-year-old man from Karnataka, India, lost over Rs 1.11 lakh after clicking on a fraudulent charity donation link sent via WhatsApp. The link automatically installed a third-party RPC app on his phone, which scammers used to deceive him into making multiple UPI transactions. The victim, identified as Varun from Golthamajalu village in Bantwal Taluk, was tricked into transferring Rs 56,000 on November 25 and another Rs 56,000 on December 13, 2024, to a person named Batul Karthik. The app initially showed fake earnings but prevented withdrawals until more money was sent. After realizing the scam, Varun filed a complaint. The incident occurred in 2024 and highlights the growing threat of cyber fraud through deceptive charity and investment schemes.

Incident Details

Domain
Fraud & Financial
Harm Types
AI-Powered Financial Fraud
Mechanism
content
Platforms
WhatsApp
Companies
Canara Bank
Recipient
IndividualVarun, a 31-year-old man from Golthamajalu village in Bantwal Taluk, Karnataka
Dimensions
economic

Sources

1
Man gets link for donation and charity on WhatsApp, loses over Rs 1 lakh after clicking on it - India Today
Google News Historical Backfill·Mar 4, 2025

This incident is documented by a single source. Source count reflects coverage in our monitored feeds, not the totality of reporting, and we do not evaluate publication quality.