Hyderabad, 12 August
Hyderabad man loses Rs 3.25 lakh in fake ECI voter verification scam
75-year-old retired RBI employee allegedly tricked into installing APK file after sharing voter ID details on WhatsApp
A 75-year-old retired Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employee from Ameerpet allegedly lost Rs 3.25 lakh after falling victim to a fake Election Commission of India (ECI) voter verification scam, Hyderabad cybercrime police said.
The victim, identified as Mohan, was contacted by unidentified persons who allegedly claimed to be carrying out a voter verification process. Believing the communication to be genuine, he shared a photograph of his voter ID through WhatsApp.
The caller later allegedly told him that his name did not match his father’s name and sent him a link claiming to be an ECI verification link. Mohan opened the link and entered his personal details.
APK file used in alleged cyber fraud
The fraudsters subsequently sent him an APK file and allegedly instructed him to install it on his phone.
After the installation, Mohan was asked to pay Rs 5 as a verification charge. He attempted to make the payment through internet banking, but the transaction appeared to have failed.
The fraudsters then allegedly contacted him through a WhatsApp video call and claimed that the payment had failed because of a server problem.
During another video call, the caller allegedly told Mohan that his face needed to be verified. He followed the instructions and completed the purported verification process.
Rs 3.25 lakh debited without authorisation
At around 8:26 pm, Mohan received an SMS from his bank informing him that Rs 3.25 lakh had been debited from his account.
Mohan told the police that he had neither initiated nor authorised the transaction. Suspecting that he had been defrauded, he immediately contacted his bank and requested that his account be blocked.
He later reported the incident through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
Hyderabad cybercrime police registered a case under Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act and Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police are investigating the case and working to trace the persons involved in the alleged cyber fraud.