3 weeks ago
Ex-RBI Employee Duped of Rs.3.5 Lakh in Fake ECI Scam
A retired bank worker in Hyderabad got a strange text message about voting.
The message asked him to send his voter ID card over WhatsApp.
He sent it because he thought it was from the election office.
Then the scammers asked him to download an app and pay a small fee.
When his payment did not go through, they said there was a server problem.
They even made video calls pretending to check his face.
Later, his bank sent a message saying money had been taken without his permission.
The bank quickly blocked his account so no more money could be taken.
He told the police and they started an investigation.
A 75-year-old retired RBI employee, Vishnu Mohan Venna, from Ameerpet in Hyderabad, was defrauded of Rs.3.50 lakh.
The scam began with an SMS asking him to share his voter ID card on WhatsApp, claiming ECI would contact him within 48 hours.
Fraudsters sent a fake ECI verification link, asked him to install an APK file, and sought Rs.5 as verification charges.
Rs.3.25 lakh was transferred from his account without authorization, and Rs.2 lakh was moved between his own accounts before the bank blocked them.
Police booked a case under Sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act and Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the BNS.
- Who
- Vishnu Mohan Venna, a 75-year-old retired RBI employee from Ameerpet, Hyderabad
- What
- Was defrauded of Rs.3.50 lakh through a fake ECI voter verification link and APK file
- Where
- Hyderabad, India; reported to the Hyderabad cybercrimes police and the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal
- When
- Complaint lodged on Tuesday; the scam began with an SMS received four days earlier, with unauthorized transfers at around 8:26 pm
- Why
- He believed the messages and calls were part of a genuine ECI voter verification process
Key facts
- Victim
- Vishnu Mohan Venna, 75-year-old retired RBI employee
- Location
- Ameerpet, Hyderabad
- Amount Lost
- Rs.3.50 lakh
- Unauthorized Transfer
- Rs.3.25 lakh deducted from bank account
- Second Transfer
- Rs.2 lakh moved between accounts without authorization
- Scam Tactic
- Fake ECI verification link, APK file, and WhatsApp video calls
- Bank Response
- Account blocked; debit card deactivated
- Legal Action
- IT Act Sections 66C, 66D; BNS Sections 318(4), 319(2)
Quotes
Vishnu Mohan Venna
75‑year‑old retired RBI employee from Hyderabad
“At about 5.21 pm, believing the message to be related to voter verification, I sent a photograph of my voter ID card through WhatsApp. Thereafter, I received a call through WhatsApp and the person informed me that my name did not match with my father's name,”
deccanchronicle.com
“I had neither initiated nor authorized the transaction and had not intended to transfer Rs.3.25 lakh to any person,”
deccanchronicle.com
Sources
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