LUCKNOW, Sept. 14 -- Despite repeated warnings from Lucknow police against downloading APK files sent by unknown numbers, cyber fraudsters allegedly duped a woman in Lucknow's Bijnor of Rs.99,000 on the pretext of updating her gas meter. Rekha Bhadoria, a resident near Krishna Public School in Royal City, Aurangabad Jagir, received a WhatsApp message on the evening of August 22 asking her to update her gas meter. Soon after, she received a call from an unknown number. The caller allegedly told her that her gas connection would be disconnected if the meter was not updated. The fraudsters then sent her a link and asked her to download an APK file to complete the purported update. After Bhadoria downloaded the file, Rs.50,000 was withdrawn from her Indian Overseas Bank account, followed by another transaction of Rs.49,000 within a minute. She subsequently filed a complaint on Friday. After discovering the fraud, Bhadoria approached the Cyber Crime Portal and the cyber cell in Hazratganj. A case was also registered at Bijnor police station. Police, with the help of the cyber cell, are working to trace the fraudsters. The latest incident has taken the number of such cases reported in Lucknow to at least five, with the total reported losses rising from Rs.46.48 lakh to Rs.47.47 lakh. The development comes despite a public awareness campaign launched by the Lucknow police crime branch under Operation Digital Kavach, warning residents about a scam in which fraudsters pose as Green Gas officials and threaten gas disconnection to persuade consumers to install malicious applications. In the most significant case reported earlier, a 67-year-old Gomti Nagar resident received a WhatsApp call from a person claiming to represent Green Gas Limited. The caller told him that his gas bill was pending and sent a "Meter Update.apk" file. After he installed it, Rs.31.84 lakh was withdrawn from his three SBI accounts through 25 transactions, according to the complaint. In another case involving a Kanpur Road resident, the victim was told that his gas supply would be disconnected unless his meter was updated. After paying a nominal Rs.13 fee and installing the application sent to him on WhatsApp, Rs.6.38 lakh was withdrawn from his PNB account through 13 transactions. An 88-year-old man was separately duped of Rs.5 lakh after installing a "Meter Update.apk" file and sharing his debit card details and an OTP. In another case, a Jankipuram Extension resident lost Rs.3.25 lakh through five UPI transactions after being targeted using the same modus operandi. According to ADCP (Crime) Kiran Yadav, malicious APK files can provide fraudsters with remote access to victims' mobile phones, allowing them to target banking information and siphon off money. The fraudsters appear to be using available or leaked customer information to make the calls more convincing. Posing as gas company representatives, they tell consumers that their meter, connection or bill needs to be updated and threaten disconnection if they fail to act immediately. The conversation is then shifted to WhatsApp, where the victim is sent an APK file, such as "Meter Update.apk", and instructed to install it....