Navi Mumbai: A 43-year-old woman entrepreneur from Belapur fell victim to an online trading scam, losing Rs 2.29 crore between April and July this year. The scammers posed as representatives of a well-known financial advisory platform and persuaded her to download a trading app and invest money through it, according to the police.
As per officials, the victim’s husband was added to a WhatsApp group called ‘VIP 1 Equity Exchange,’ where members frequently shared investment tips and claimed to be earning substantial profits. Seeing this, he expressed interest in participating, as reported by Hindustan Times.
According to the report, the investigating officer mentioned, “The frauds contacted him and introduced themselves as representatives of a reputed financial advisory platform. They provided a multi-phase trading scheme, assuring impressive returns."
Following their instructions, the couple downloaded a trading app named ‘impv pro,’ created an account in the woman's name, and began investing. During the span of three months, she transferred Rs 2.29 crore to multiple bank accounts, details of which were provided by the fraudsters, as reported.
The deception was uncovered when the woman planned to invest in an IPO and was unexpectedly asked to deposit an additional Rs 4.18 crore. After discussing it with her family, concerns were raised about the legitimacy of the scheme. “She then called the customer care and discovered that the company does not operate through any mobile application and realised that she was defrauded,” the officer added.
Subsequently, the woman filed a complaint with the police on Sunday. A case has been registered against unidentified individuals under sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(2) (forgery), and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with section 66(D) (cheating by personation) of the Information Technology Act.
