2 weeks ago
Cyber fraudsters use SIR voter roll checks to target elderly
Some bad people pretend to be from the Election Commission, the group that organizes elections in India.
They call older people on the phone and tell them there is a mistake in their voter records.
They say the mistake must be fixed, or the person could be removed from the voter list.
One older man in his late seventies got such a call.
The callers tricked him and took a lot of his money, more than four lakh rupees.
They also video-called him on WhatsApp and sent him a link that looked like it was for fixing his voter information.
The police say these tricks are becoming common during the Special Intensive Revision of voter lists.
Everyone should be careful not to share personal information or money with strangers who call them.
A man in his late 70s from Wadgaon Budruk, Pune, lost Rs 4.98 lakh to cyber fraudsters.
Fraudsters posed as Election Commission officials, claiming a mismatch in his SIR records needed correction.
The Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has become new bait for scammers targeting elderly voters.
The victim was first contacted by phone in the first week of August, then via a WhatsApp video call.
The scammers threatened victims with exclusion from the electoral rolls and sent a voter re-verification link.
The case was registered on Wednesday, according to police.
- Who
- Cyber fraudsters posing as Election Commission officials and an elderly man in his late 70s from Wadgaon Budruk, Pune.
- What
- The scammers duped the elderly man of Rs 4.98 lakh by claiming a mismatch in his SIR electoral roll records needed correction.
- Where
- Wadgaon Budruk, a suburb of Pune.
- When
- Case registered on Wednesday; first contact was made in the first week of August.
- Why
- The fraudsters exploited the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, threatening victims with exclusion from voter rolls to extract money.
Key facts
- Victim
- Man in his late 70s
- Location
- Wadgaon Budruk, a suburb of Pune
- Amount lost
- Rs 4.98 lakh
- Scam method
- Phone calls, WhatsApp video call, and a voter re-verification link
- Impersonated authority
- Election Commission officials
- Pretext
- Mismatch in SIR records requiring correction
- Threat used
- Exclusion from electoral rolls
- Case registered
- Wednesday; first contact in the first week of August
Sources
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