A 35-year-old businessman lost nearly Rs2 crore in a stock market investment scam after being added to an unknown WhatsApp group. In his police complaint, the Kalyan resident said that in May, he was added to the group where investment tips were being shared.
After he agreed to make the investment, the scammers shared a link on WhatsApp, which directed the man to a trading app. He was then prompted to share his PAN card and bank account details.
Between June 13 and July 12, the complainant ended up transferring Rs1.91 crore in different account numbers provided by the cons, said the police. On July 13, the bogus app showed that his earnings had increased to a whopping Rs 15 crore.
When the man decided to withdraw his earnings, one of the fraudsters told him that he would have to pay Rs60 lakh more as “operating fee”. Subsequently, his contact was blocked by them, making him realise the fraud, police added.
A case has been filed under sections 66C (identity theft) and 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act.
