A 76-year-old resident of Kothrud in Pune allegedly lost ₹8.53 lakh after cyber fraudsters contacted him on the pretext of providing information about a senior citizen pension card, according to a report by Sakal. Kothrud police have registered a case against an unidentified mobile phone user and suspected bank account holders.
According to information provided by the police, the fraudsters contacted the senior citizen on his mobile phone and offered information related to a pension card for elderly residents. During the interaction, one of the accused allegedly initiated a video call with the complainant through WhatsApp.
The caller then allegedly misled the complainant into installing an application bearing the name of ICICI Bank on his mobile phone. The report said the application was used to obtain confidential banking information stored on the complainant’s device.
After the alleged installation and interaction, the cyber fraudsters transferred ₹8.53 lakh from the senior citizen’s bank account through online transactions. The complainant noticed that money had been withdrawn from the account and approached Kothrud police station.
Police have registered a case against the unidentified mobile phone holder and suspected bank account holders. The case is being investigated by Police Inspector (Crime) Anil Mane, according to the report.
The incident shows how a seemingly routine service-related conversation can become the entry point for unauthorised access to a person’s banking information. In this case, the alleged fraud combined a phone call, a WhatsApp video interaction and the installation of an application presented as a banking service.
The police investigation will now focus on identifying the caller, tracing the suspected bank accounts and establishing how the online transfer of funds was carried out. No further details about arrests or recovery of the money were provided in the supplied report.
