Mumbai: A 75-year-old retired Borivali woman allegedly lost Rs 2.82 crore in an investment scam advertised through a fake YouTube video featuring Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Pratibha Arunkumar Gokhale, a retired Hindustan Organic Chemicals employee living alone on L T Road, Borivali West, saw the video in February. It promised senior citizens high returns from international stocks, gold, silver, commodities and bonds.
Fraudsters Contact Victim Through Telegram
After clicking its link, she received calls from “Sagar”, claiming to represent Romania-based FirstECN. Initially hesitant, she agreed after repeated calls, paid Rs 22,000 and began communicating with ‘FirstECN_Account_Manager_bot’ on Telegram from March 7. The accused collected her mobile number for verification, reportedly completed on August 9. Another caller, “Surya”, provided market updates.
Promises Of Profits Lead To Transfers
The pair encouraged gold and silver trades, promising profits regardless of fluctuations. Citing a possible Iran–US war and market crash, they demanded further investments to protect her money. She transferred funds through RTGS to multiple accounts, while Telegram displayed purported profits.
On August 18, they claimed to have credited $2,322 (around Rs 2.20 lakh) to her SBI account. Against investments totalling Rs 2,82,50,094, she received only Rs 30,000 and Rs 23,373 on October 7 and Rs 73,984 on October 15 in her ICICI account.
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Son Identifies Fraud, Police Contacted
Later, they demanded money for an IPO before permitting withdrawals and offered a loan, which she refused. Her son Amol identified the fraud. Gokhale contacted cyber helpline 1930 and North Region Cyber Police Station, Crime Branch.
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