Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Beware of Fraudsters Asking Personal Details About Voting Preference

A number of Pune citizens have received calls from people who inquired about the candidate they voted for.

14 May 2024

By Khushi Maheshwari

Swarms of zealous voters packed the polling booths in Pune City to cast their vote on 13th May. The air was filled with political consciousness and a sense of duty as citizens of the country; index fingers were marked with the famous blue ink and that is how this Monday became special for most voters in the city. 

However, some instances present a detour into political pressurising. Some voters reported having received automated calls from numbers beginning from 80, asking them specific questions about the candidate they voted for, and for each candidate they were asked to press certain numbers. For instance: If you have voted for ABC candidate from XYZ party, press 1, if you have voted for some other, press 3.

Some Puneris spoke about their experiences and narrated almost similar instances. Sagar Kute, a software professional, told Pune Pulse, “I received a call from “+91-8071477501” asking whom I voted for; whether it was Shinde, Udhav Thakare, or another party candidate.” He said that he checked the number on truecaller; it was reported as spam quite a few times and had comments under it by many others which read, “Why should I tell whom did I vote”, “Please don’t reveal your vote. This is spam”, “Asking me whom I vote in Lok Sabha polls”, and so on. 

Another Pune citizen, Ritesh Shinde, a teacher by profession, received an almost identical phone call from +918042314515. He told Pune Pulse, “I got a random call from a 080 number asking ‘Which party did you vote for?’ and to press certain numbers for each candidate; it lasted for about 30-40 seconds and then I hung up.”

A lot of similar instances have been reported yesterday. It should be noted that no person is required to reveal their preferences and choice of votes to anyone. Such kind of pressurising does not comply with the electoral code of conduct. If received, kindly beware of any such fraudulent phone calls.