Maharashtra govt employee loses Rs 1.9 lakh to WhatsApp wedding card scam
The victim clicked on a malicious WhatsApp message disguised as a wedding invitation, which stole personal data and led to the theft of funds
A government employee lost nearly Rs 2 lakh to digital fraudsters after clicking a WhatsApp message, which appeared to be a wedding invitation, in Hingoli, Maharashtra. Police are investigating the case.
The complainant received a message from an unknown number that seemed to be a digital wedding invitation. The message read, “Welcome. Shadi mein zarur aye (Do come to the wedding). 30/08/2025. Love is the master key that opens the gate of happiness.”
The attachment, along with a message, looked like a PDF. However, it was an Android Application Package (APK) that was disguised as a wedding invitation.
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Reportedly, when the employee clicked and opened the APK, his personal data was stolen, and consequently, he ended up losing Rs 1,90,000 to the fraudsters. A case has been filed against an unknown person at the Hingoli police station and the cybercrime department.
How does the scam work?
Wedding invitation scams are a kind of digital scam, a recent addition to online scams. After the repeated instances of such crimes, the Himachal Pradesh police advised people to be careful of such invitations.
In a WhatsApp wedding scam, a malicious APK would be sent to the users as a wedding invitation. When WhatsApp users click the ‘invitations’, the malware allows the cybercriminals to track every activity on the phone and gather sensitive information. The data and information would then be used against the victims to extort money.