Mumbai, Feb 23: A 33-year-old man has lost Rs 1.36 crore to scammers in an online share trading fraud. The scammers induced the complainant to download a bogus trading app and made him transfer money in 24 online transactions in a month.
Victim contacted via WhatsApp
According to the police, the complainant is a resident of Dombivli and works in a private company. The complainant had been surfing online and social media platforms such as Instagram for information about investments in the share market.
On January 02, the complainant received a WhatsApp message from an unknown woman informing him about a trading platform through which he could earn good profit. The complainant showed interest and decided to invest.
Added to investment group
The scammer then got the complainant's mobile number added to a WhatsApp group which had around 100 members and in which share market-related information was being shared.
Bogus app downloaded
The scammers then shared a web link with the complainant and asked him to download a trading app through that link and create an account.
Multiple transactions over a month
The complainant followed these instructions and from January 02 till January 29 transferred Rs 1.36 crore to different beneficiary bank accounts in two dozen online transactions. On checking his trading app, the complainant realised that his earnings had reached around Rs 3 crore.
Withdrawal blocked, service fee demanded
However, when the complainant tried to withdraw his earnings, his requests were repeatedly denied and he was instructed to pay Rs 30 lakh as a service fee to release his earnings. He then tried contacting the scammer, but her phone remained switched off.
Police case registered
Having realised that he had been duped, he raised a complaint in this regard on the cyber crime helpline. In his police complaint, he has provided details of the contact numbers of the scammers, the bogus trading platform, and beneficiary bank account details.
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A case has been registered by the police under Section 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act in the matter.
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