A 75-year-old retired Army personnel in Indore allegedly lost ₹1.23 lakh after falling for a fake pension card advertisement on Facebook. The accused allegedly obtained his debit card details and OTP through a WhatsApp call and withdrew money in six transactions.

A 75-year-old retired Army personnel from Indore’s Pardeshipura area allegedly lost ₹1.23 lakh in an online fraud after responding to a fake Facebook advertisement for a pension card.According to police, the victim, identified as Shashikant Durape, saw an advertisement carrying the State Bank of India (SBI) logo and believed it to be genuine. After submitting an application, he allegedly received a WhatsApp call from a person claiming to help him get the pension card.A case has been registered and police have started an investigation into the cyber fraud.

Fake SBI logo used to gain trust

Shashikant told police that on September 5, he came across a Facebook advertisement related to a pension card while browsing social media.The advertisement displayed the SBI logo, due to which he believed it was an official service. After applying through the advertisement, he received a call from an unknown WhatsApp number.The caller reportedly asked for personal details, including information about his age and Army retirement background. The victim said the caller spoke for a long time, which made him trust the person.

OTP shared during conversation

Police said the accused allegedly convinced Shashikant to share his debit card details and OTP on the pretext of completing the pension card process.The caller reportedly assured him that the pension card would be delivered within a few days and could also be downloaded online.During the conversation, several SMS alerts reportedly arrived on his mobile phone, but the caller allegedly asked him to ignore them.

Money withdrawn in six transactions

Later, Shashikant received a call from a toll-free number informing him that payments were being made from his bank account.After checking his account details, he found that around ₹1.23 lakh had been withdrawn through six separate transactions.Following this, he approached the cyber helpline and registered a complaint.

Police begin investigation

The complaint was initially received by the cyber police and later transferred to Pardeshipura Police Station for investigation.Police have registered a case related to online fraud and are trying to identify the accused involved in the transaction.