Mumbai: A senior citizen from Borivli lost Rs 3.1 lakh to a “SIR scam”. A fraudster got him to click on a malicious link, activated call forwarding on his phone and accessed his bank account. Borivli Police lodged an FIR against an unknown person.On Aug 27, the 66-year-old complainant received a phone call from an individual who claimed that his SIR (Special Intensive Revision) form had his father’s name incorrectly spelt. The caller added that a correction would have to be made. The complainant handed the phone to his daughter-in-law, who spoke to the caller. He sent them a link and asked them to pay a charge of Rs 13 for name correction.Next, the fraudster connected with them over WhatsApp. His display picture had “Election Commission of India” mentioned in it. The senior citizen clicked the link sent by the fraudsters and filled up the details required but his payment of Rs 13 failed.The fraudster then sent another link, which the senior citizen clicked and entered details, but payment would still not go through. The fraudster asked him to send copies of his PAN card, Aadhaar card, and voter ID over WhatsApp and disconnected the line. The next day, the senior citizen received a notification that all his calls were being forwarded to another number.Despite deactivating call forwarding, it got reactivated again. The senior citizen informed his son who contacted his bank and found out that Rs 3.1 lakh had been fraudulently withdrawn. A police complaint was then lodged.
