Kolhapur, A senior doctor from Kolhapur was defrauded of ₹84,000 after a scammer, posing as a government official, convinced him that an error in his voter enumeration form needed urgent correction, police said on Tuesday. The fraud used the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise as a pretext to gain the victim’s trust and remote access to his mobile phone.
How the fraud unfolded
According to the cyber police, the doctor initially ignored repeated text messages about an alleged mistake in his father’s name on the voter list. He responded only after receiving a warning that failure to rectify the purported error could lead to removal from the electoral roll and loss of voting rights.
- The fraudster posed as an election official and requested a nominal service charge of ₹5 to correct the listing, asking the doctor to pay by credit card.
- When the payment apparently failed, the caller sent an APK file and instructed the doctor to download and install it to complete the process.
- Once the APK was installed, the scammer obtained remote access to the mobile device and, while keeping the doctor engaged on the call, withdrew ₹84,000 from his credit card.
- The doctor received a bank alert about the transaction, switched off his phone, and reported the fraudulent transaction to his bank, which blocked his accounts and prevented two further attempted transactions, police said.
Police response and warnings
A complaint has been lodged with the cyber police in Kolhapur. Cyber police inspector Sanjay Harugade warned residents against downloading APK files sent by unknown callers or numbers. "Do not download APK files. They can give scammers remote access to your device," he said, cautioning that the election-related narrative was being used as bait.
"In the ‘boss scam’, fraudsters gained access to officials’ devices, studied their communication patterns and then tricked them into transferring large amounts of money under the guise of routine transactions."
Inspector Harugade referred to similar cases in which fraudsters used remote-control malware to study a victim’s communication patterns before engineering large fraudulent transfers. He advised citizens to verify any voter-related communication only through official election authorities and to avoid sharing banking details or downloading unknown applications.
Practical steps and local context
Kolhapur residents are currently receiving messages and calls linked to the SIR exercise, which updates the electoral roll. The police said fraudsters are exploiting the urgency and official tone of such messages to create panic and prompt hasty action.
To help residents recognise and respond to such approaches, the cyber cell provided the following checklist:
| Suspected sign | Recommended action |
|---|---|
| Unexpected message about voter details or deletion | Verify directly with local election office or official helpline before clicking links |
| Request to pay nominal fee via card or UPI | Refuse and contact bank immediately if payment attempted |
| Instruction to download an APK or unknown file | Do not download; uninstall if installed and inform cyber police |
| Unsolicited call asking for OTP or bank details | Never share OTP, CVV, or banking passwords |
The cyber police stressed that genuine election communications will not require payments, card details or the installation of third‑party applications. Citizens who receive suspicious calls or messages are urged to lodge complaints with the local cyber cell and to contact their bank immediately if unauthorised transactions occur.
Kolhapur’s police advisory underlines that as administrative drives such as the SIR are rolled out, local fraudsters often tailor their narratives to match the exercise. The advice from the cyber cell aims to blunt that tactic by encouraging verification, restraint and rapid reporting.
Investigations are underway into the complaint filed by the doctor. Police said the case illustrates a growing modus operandi in which electoral revision and voter verification narratives are used to harvest remote access and banking credentials from victims.
