After the Free Press Journal reported on February 4 about a Dadar-based teacher who lost over Rs. 6.70 lakhs in an investment cyber fraud with an institutional trading platform called 'Zoksa', now several other victims of the same fraud are emerging from across the country. Recently, a 42-year-old man from Borivali lost Rs. 27 lakhs, while other two from Bangalore lost Rs. 40 lakhs and 13.3 lakhs. Mumbai Police, like Bangalore police and Kolkata police, have initiated respective probes in the matter.
Details On First Case
In the first case that was reported in Mumbai, the Dadar-based teacher, 43, who works with the Bombay International School, was added to a Telegram account by a man named Azim Singh, who introduced her to Zoksa, and spoke highly about the company's investment returns. These fraudsters MO involve giving some profits to their victims at first couple of transactions, later manipulate them to invest money in huge amounts. The woman invested Rs. 30,000 at first, and by the end, she was paying amounts in lakhs.
Similarly, in the Borivali matter, the 42-year-old victim who works in the insurance vertical market, was added to the Telegram group. After observing other investors' responses and profit margins, he was talked into making investments as well. Interestingly, he also received some profits which assured him the business is legitimate, followed by him investing more money into it. The victim ended up losing over Rs. 27 lakhs. The victim has approached the Mumbai Cyber police, but the FIR is yet to be registered. According to Survarna Shinde, senior police inspector, Cyber police station (north region), they have initiated a probe in the matter, and soon FIR will be registered after the standard operating procedure.
Victims Were Duped Saying Their Accounts Were Frozen
In all these cases, victims were told their accounts have been 'frozen', and in order to withdraw their 'profit', they were asked to pay an additional amount plus tax amount - that was supposedly for 'clearance' from the Indian Government. In order to get a hold of their valuable money back, victims ended up paying more, without receiving anything in return.
Bangalore-based Shweta Sharma (38), an advertising professional, lost Rs. 40 lakhs in the scam. According to her, the people involved in the racket went by the names of Grace Ross, Azim Singh, Manali Shah, who interacted with the public, or victims. These are the same people who were contacted and interacted with other victims in Mumbai as well. Similarly, Pratiba Ratre (52) a retired teacher from Bangalore, lost Rs. 13.30 lakhs in the same fraud. Both Sharma and Ratre have registered police complaints with the Bangalore police.
Dummy Numbers Used To Execute Scam
The Free Press Journal checked some of the numbers by calling them, but it all turned out to be dummy numbers, used by locals in Jharkhand, Delhi, etc, who have no idea about any of the names mentioned above. Two days ago, the Kolkata police's cyber cell initiated a probe after a 58-year-old Pradip Sarkar was duped of Rs. 20 lakhs in a similar investment fraud, by the gang of Azim Singh. According to reports, both Sarkar and his 27-year-old son were cancer patients, who had invested in stocks to finance their treatment.
Azim Singh and his gang members start by providing 'tips' on 'ways to make investment with maximum profit', then introduce the victims to Zoksa.com. The company's website states that it is based in Texas, USA, but has no documentation or verification by SEBI, as per government of India's guidelines.
