A 75-year-old man of South Mumbai lost ₹11 crore in an online share trading fraud during the last three months. The complainant, a Colaba resident who previously worked in the shipping industry, was defrauded by cybercriminals who convinced him to invest in what they claimed was share trading through a well-known brokerage firm. After displaying him bogus returns, they misled him into investing crores of rupees before he discovered what was going on.
According to the man's police complaint, he was admitted to a random WhatsApp group on August 19th, where people were sending messages claiming how they had made enormous profits by investing in stocks through a well-known brokerage. After a few days, one of the group's operators messaged him to see if he was ready to invest in share trading. The complainant accepted after being influenced by messages posted in the group.
The 75-year-old then sent his paperwork to the cyber fraudster, who set up a trading account on an app bearing the name of a well-known brokerage firm. The account data were supplied via a screen capture in a different WhatsApp group setup for him.
The cyber fraudster then urged the client to invest in a recently established initial public offering (IPO), giving him a second bank account for the purpose. When the complainant inquired as to why the company was receiving funds in a second bank account, he was informed that it was for tax purposes.
The complainant then began investing, and he was able to see his profits in his virtual account. He invested ₹11.16 crore in 22 deals, primarily blindly following cyber fraud instructions. He could see a significant amount of earnings being credited to his trading account.
However, when the complainant contacted the operator to withdraw the funds deposited in his trading account, he was told that he would have to pay 20% of the credited amount in service costs. Finding this unusual, the complainant called the Lower Parel office of the firm whose name was being used by the fraudsters and discovered that he had wired all of the money to cyber fraudsters, according to a police officer.
The complaint then went to the police. Based on his accusation, the cyber police opened a case against unknown individuals. The authorities are currently attempting to identify the fraudsters using the mobile phones and bank account information used in the crime.
A 36-year-old businessman in Colaba lost ₹68 lakh due to cyber fraud. According to his police complaint, on September 6, he was added to a WhatsApp group with 170 members, where a person identifying as Amit Kumar began conversing with him and asking if he was interested in investing in the stock market.
The scammers then created a trading account in his name using an app. He was then requested to put money into the virtual trading account. The complainant deposited ₹50.00 and quickly made a 10% profit. He lost ₹68 lakh to frauds.
In another example, a resident of central Mumbai was scammed of ₹88.50 lakh by a cyber fraud caller posing as a bank representative. The fraudster informed the complainant that his credit card was used for shopping and ₹3.16 crore from child trafficking and money laundering was placed into his bank account.
The complainant informed the police that the caller, who introduced himself as Arun Singh, instructed him to contact the Delhi Crime Branch. When he called the number provided to him, the scammers sent him a bogus arrest warrant. The complainant was pressured into paying ₹88.50 lakh via RTGS to several bank accounts to avoid legal issues.
