Pune: The office of the chief electoral officer (CEO) has cautioned people against fake social media messages, claiming that their voter registration documents are under investigation and asking them to contact mobile numbers.The warning comes amid cases in which fraudsters have impersonated election officials, citing discrepancies in voter ID details or special intensive revision (SIR) records to trick people into sharing personal information, clicking links or downloading malicious applications.On Oct 7, a 79-year-old man in Pune lost ₹11.92 lakh after a fraudster posing as an election official contacted him over WhatsApp in connection with an application to change his partner’s name on her voter ID card. The man had submitted an online request for the correction and provided his mobile number.On Oct 7, the caller told him that Form 8 was required for the name change and sought his Aadhaar number, his partner’s Aadhaar and voter ID details, photograph and email address. The caller then asked him to pay a processing fee of ₹5. Although two UPI payment attempts appeared unsuccessful, two unauthorised NEFT transfers of ₹4.99 lakh and ₹6.93 lakh were subsequently made from his bank account. The police registered a case under the Information Technology Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigators are examining how the fraudsters obtained access to his banking facilities and authenticated the transactions.n Nov 9, in Mumbai, a 75-year-old man lost ₹1 lakh after receiving a message claiming that there was a mismatch in the names on his and his father’s voter records. The message, received on Oct 28, asked him to call a mobile number. He was subsequently asked to share a photograph of his voter ID card, which he sent over WhatsApp on Oct 31. The caller told him that the discrepancy would be resolved within 48 hours.On Nov 1, the caller asked him to download two APK files, purportedly to correct the name, and pay ₹10. After his online banking and debit card payment attempts failed, he received alerts about two unauthorised transactions of ₹96,000 and ₹4,000. He approached police, who took up the complaint.The CEO’s office has issued an advisory stating that messages claiming electors’ registration documents are under investigation are fake. It has asked voters not to respond to such messages or contact the mobile numbers mentioned in them. “Electors have been cautioned against sharing personal information, bank account details, passwords or one-time passwords (OTPs) with unknown persons. They should not click on suspicious links, download applications or files sent by unidentified callers, or make payments on their instructions,” said election officials.The office has also stressed that all Election Commission of India (ECI) services are free and that no payment is required for voter registration, verification or correction of electoral-roll details.Voters have been asked to rely only on information and communications issued through official channels, including the CEO and ECI websites and social media handles, or through authorised booth-level officers (BLOs), assistant electoral registration officers (AEROs) and electoral registration officers (EROs). “For any doubt or assistance related to the SIR exercise, electors can call the voter helpline 1950 or approach their nearest ERO. The CEO Maharashtra website also provides SIR-related information, including FAQs, help-desk details and electoral-roll services,” added officials.
