Archive · 16 Sep 2026
Retired Pune Soldier Loses Rs 28 Lakh in Pension Scam
A retired soldier received a message saying he needed to verify his pension.
The message came through WhatsApp from an unknown person.
It included a link to an Android application file.
The soldier believed the message was genuine and opened the file.
Police suspect the file allowed criminals to access his phone remotely.
After several one-time passwords were involved, money was taken from his bank accounts.
About Rs 28 lakh was drained within a few hours.
Police describe this as a suspected remote-access cyber fraud.
A 65-year-old retired Army soldier from Shirur, Pune district, lost Rs 28 lakh from his bank accounts.
The victim received a WhatsApp message about pension verification from an unknown number on September 11.
He clicked a link to an APK file titled “Pension Card Verification Retired Personnel.”
Police suspect the downloaded file enabled a remote-access cyber fraud.
The money was drained from his accounts over several hours after a series of OTPs were received.
- Who
- A 65-year-old retired Army soldier from Shirur in Pune district.
- What
- He lost Rs 28 lakh after opening a pension-verification APK file and receiving a series of OTPs.
- When
- The incident began on the morning of September 11; the money was drained over several hours.
- Where
- Shirur, Pune district, Maharashtra.
- Why
- Police suspect fraudsters used a remote-access scam after posing as a source connected to pension verification.
- Victim
- A 65-year-old retired Army soldier
- Location
- Shirur, Pune district
- Amount lost
- Rs 28 lakh
- Initial contact
- A WhatsApp message from an unknown number
- File name
- “Pension Card Verification Retired Personnel”
- File type
- APK, used to install applications on Android phones
- Suspected method
- Remote-access cyber fraud involving OTPs