Pune: Online fraudsters posing as Election Commission of India officials cheated a retired bank officer (77) from Paud Road in Kothrud of Rs12 lakh on Aug 18, using SIR form correction trick.The frauds sent the septuagenarian a message to correct his father’s name in the enumeration form through a link and resubmit it online. He was also told to pay Rs5 as “correction fee”. As the elderly man clicked on the link, remote-access software got installed on his cellphone. The fraudsters got access to his banking credentials when he paid Rs5 and siphoned off Rs12 lakh from his bank account at night.The retired bank officer is the city’s fourth victim of cyberfrauds cashing in on the Special Intensified Review (SIR) of electoral rolls. He initially gave a complaint application to the cyberpolice station. After its verification, Kothrud police registered an FIR on Tuesday.According to the FIR, the retired bank officer decided to fill in the enumeration form after the SIR process started in the city on June 29. He completed the process at an SIR assistance centre in Kothrud and submitted the form.The fraudsters, according to the police, sent the retired bank officer a message on Aug 18 with the title “ECI-SIR”. According to the FIR, the message stated that the name of the elderly man’s father was incorrect and did not match with the documentary evidence. The sender directed him to click on the link in the message to correct it online by filling up a form, the police said.The retired bank officer was told to fill up and submit the form using the same cellphone number. The suspects also told him to pay Rs5 as the “correction fee” after submitting the form.Senior inspector Arun Ghodke of Kothrud police said, “The complainant opened the link and filled in all details, including his banking credentials, and submitted the form online without suspecting anything. The link to remote-access software got installed in his phone during this.”He said, “The complainant paid the ‘fee’ of Rs5 using his banking credentials and PIN. In the process, the suspects got access to his PIN. The suspects took control of the victim’s cellphone at night and siphoned off Rs12 lakh from his bank account.”Before the retired bank officer, a 78-year-old man from Pashan lodged a complaint on Aug 10 with the Baner police, alleging that suspects had cheated him of Rs3.4 lakh posing as poll panel officials. They allegedly sent him a message regarding an online correction in the SIR form. The suspects had claimed that his form was rejected because of an error in his father’s name.A retired engineer from Karvenagar was duped of Rs4.43 lakh on Aug 8 after cyberfrauds said his SIR form was rejected. Similarly, a 73-year old man from Vadgaon Budruk was cheated of Rs5 lakh on Aug 13.
