Pune Retired Army Soldier Loses ₹28.7 Lakh in WhatsApp Pension Scam
A 65-year-old retired Army personnel from Shirur in Pune district lost ₹28.7 lakh in a remote-access cyber fraud after he was lured into downloading an APK file sent through WhatsApp as part of a supposed pension-verification process, police said.
The fraud unfolded on the morning of September 11, according to Pune rural police, when the victim received a message from an unknown number carrying a link to a file titled “Pension Card Verification Retired Personnel.” Believing it to be an official communication linked to his Army pension, he downloaded and opened the Android Package (APK) file on his phone.
Not long after that, he received a call from another number. The caller introduced himself as a bank official and said he would help prepare a senior-citizen pension account. The victim was told to keep his mobile phone switched on, and he then began receiving multiple one-time passwords on the device. The caller instructed him not to share the OTPs.
By later that afternoon, transaction alerts began arriving from the victim’s pension and savings accounts. Within three hours, nine unauthorised transfers had been completed, resulting in a total loss of ₹28.7 lakh.
The case was reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal with help from the victim’s daughter. Shirur police have registered a first information report and started an investigation.
How the scam worked
Police described the case as a classic remote-access scam, in which fraudsters impersonate bank staff, utility providers or government officials and create urgency around routine matters such as pension verification, KYC updates or bill payments. Victims are then persuaded to install unofficial APK files shared through messaging apps. Once such an application is installed and permissions are granted, it can give fraudsters access to the device and help them carry out unauthorised transactions.
Authorities have warned people not to install applications received through WhatsApp, SMS or other unsolicited messages, especially when the sender asks them to avoid official app stores or grant unusual permissions. They said legitimate service providers do not require customers to download unknown APK files for pension verification or similar routine procedures.
Anyone who receives such a message should verify it independently through official channels and report suspected fraud immediately on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or by calling 1930, police said.
