A 45-year-old Koparkhairane resident was duped of Rs 9.7 lakh by a cyber fraudster on the pretext of good return by investing in an overseas gold fund. The victim was approached by a fraudster through WhatsApp chat and also introduced the investment scheme on the same platform.
Police said that the complainant received a WhatsApp message from a UK mobile number. Beginning with a query, the person chatted on different subjects. Later, the person also discussed how people lost money during COVID and introduced an investment scheme. According to police, later the person identified himself as Ami, a Gold Analyst from Malaysia.
Police said that the fraudster also shared a chart about people who made money in the scheme and provided a link taifook-gold.com to fill in to start the investment. The complainant decided to start the investment and filled the form.
Initially, the fraudster asked him to pay Rs 50,000 which he transferred to an account given by her. In the same manner, the fraudster provided a different bank account with the account holder and the complainant transferred a total of Rs 9,78,000.
Later, when the complainant tried to contact through WhatsApp chat, he found the number did not exist. He also checked the website which was also not available on the internet. Realizing he was cheated, he made a complaint at National Cyber Crime Incident Reporting Portal, Government of India, and later at Koparkhairane police station. The Koarkhairane police registered a case under sections 406 and 420 of IPC and 66 C and 66 D of the IT Act.
