Rs 5 Verification Fee, Rs 4.43 Lakh Gone: Pune Retired Engineer Falls for SIR Cyber Scam

Karvenagar, 9th August 2026: A retired engineer from Karvenagar was allegedly cheated of Rs 4.43 lakh after cyber fraudsters posed as officials handling his Special Intensive Revision (SIR) application and convinced him to download remote-access software on his mobile phone, police said.

The victim, a retired employee of an automobile company, approached Alankar police station after discovering that a large amount had been withdrawn from his bank account. The fraud allegedly took place between July 30 and 31.

According to the FIR, the victim initially received a message stating that his recently submitted SIR application had been rejected because of a spelling error in his father’s name. Since he had actually submitted the application a few days earlier, he believed the message was genuine.

The fraudsters then made a missed call to his phone. When the victim returned the call the next day, the caller claimed to be assisting him with correcting the application and told him that a fresh online form would be sent to him.

Shortly afterwards, a link was sent to him through a messaging application. Believing it to be an official SIR form, the victim opened the link and began entering the requested information.

Police said the fraudulent process eventually resulted in remote-access software being installed on the victim’s mobile phone, giving the suspects the ability to access the device and monitor or control its activities.

The suspects then asked him to pay Rs 5 as a verification fee to complete the application process. According to the complaint, the victim made the small payment, unaware that the fraudsters were using the transaction as part of the scam.

Investigators suspect that the accused obtained access to the victim’s e-banking credentials during the process. With access to his banking information and remote control of his mobile phone, the fraudsters allegedly transferred Rs 4.43 lakh from his account.

The Alankar police have registered a case and are investigating the incident, including the phone numbers, links and digital accounts used by the suspects.

Police said the modus operandi resembles the fake traffic e-challan scams reported in several parts of the country, where victims are persuaded to click on fraudulent links or install malicious applications under the guise of paying a fine or completing a verification process.

The incident highlights the growing use of social-engineering tactics in cyber fraud, where criminals exploit genuine ongoing procedures and recent transactions to make fraudulent messages appear credible.