Pune: A 74-year-old Hadapsar resident lost Rs 10 lakh to cybercrooks who impersonated Election Commission of India (ECI) officers. The fraud took place in August this year. The victim lodged a complaint with the Hadapsar police on Thursday.A police officer said the complainant was a director of a company that makes industrial-grade dust-control consumables.On Aug 15, the suspects sent him a message titled “ECI-SIR”. When he opened it, the message stated that his father’s name did not match the details in the SIR form and urged him to contact a cellphone number mentioned in the message to correct it.“When the complainant contacted the cellphone number, the crook, impersonating an EC official, obtained his bank details under the pretext of identity verification,” the officer said.He said the crook then asked the complainant to transfer Rs 10 using his debit card and share his screen after receiving messages and an OTP for the transaction.“When the complainant shared his screen, the crooks gained access to his bank account and siphoned off Rs 9.91 lakh,” he said.The officer said the police have sought details of the transactions from the complainant’s bank. “Our investigation is on,” he said.
