Pune, 10th August 2026: A retired employee of an automobile company from Karvenagar allegedly lost ₹4.43 lakh after cyber fraudsters posed as officials assisting with his SIR application. According to the FIR registered at Alankar police station, the fraud took place between July 30 and 31.
The victim had recently submitted an SIR application and received a message claiming that it had been rejected because of a spelling mistake in his father’s name. Since he had actually submitted the application a few days earlier, he believed the message was genuine.
The victim later received a missed call from an unknown number. When he returned the call the following day, the caller claimed to be helping him correct his SIR application.
The caller told him that a fresh online form would be sent to complete the correction process. Soon after, a link was sent through a messaging application.
Believing it was an official SIR form, the victim opened the link and entered the information requested by the fraudsters.
During the process, the victim was allegedly tricked into installing remote-access software on his mobile phone. The software allowed the suspects to access and monitor the device remotely.
The fraudsters then asked him to pay ₹5 as a verification fee. The victim made the payment without realising that the transaction was part of the scam.
Police suspect that the accused obtained access to his e-banking credentials during the process. With access to his banking information and control of his mobile phone, the suspects allegedly transferred ₹4.43 lakh from his bank account.
The victim noticed the large withdrawal from his account and approached Alankar police station. Police have registered a case and begun investigating the phone numbers, links, digital accounts and other electronic evidence connected with the fraud.
The incident is similar to fake e-challan scams reported in different parts of the country, in which fraudsters use official-looking messages and links to trick people into installing malicious applications or sharing sensitive information.
The case highlights how cybercriminals are increasingly using genuine ongoing procedures and recent applications to make fraudulent messages appear legitimate. Police have advised citizens to avoid opening unknown links, installing applications sent by strangers or sharing banking credentials over phone calls.
