Rajasthan Police warns against fake wedding invite links as marriage season kicks in

Jaipur, Nov 2 (PTI) With the onset of wedding season in Rajasthan, the state police has cautioned people against falling prey to cyber criminals circulating fake e-invitation links that can steal personal and financial information from mobile phones.

DIG (Cyber Crime) Vikas Sharma said on Saturday that fraudsters are sending malicious APK files often named 'invitation.apk', disguised as wedding invitations or location-sharing links.

“Once a user clicks on the link and installs the file, it deploys a backdoor malware that hacks the mobile device,” the DIG said.

The malware can gain unauthorised access to SMS, contact lists, camera, and stored files, he said.

“It then secretly collects personal data, banking information, OTPs, and passwords, which are later used by cyber criminals to commit financial frauds,” the officer added.

Such attacks are becoming increasingly common during festive and wedding seasons, when people are more likely to click on unknown links shared via messaging apps, he said.

The cyber crime unit has urged citizens to verify a sender's identity before opening any e-invitation or gift link and to instal applications only from trusted sources such as Google Play Store or Apple App Store.

The advisory comes as the wedding season commenced across Rajasthan after Devuthani Ekadashi on Friday, with thousands of marriages expected to be somenised in November and December. PTI AG SMV ARI