53-year-old Colaba resident loses ₹1.53 cr to cyber frauds

The South Cyber police have registered a case against unknown persons after a 53-year-old Colaba resident lost ₹1.53 crore in one and a half months to online frauds, who lured him to invest in the name of share market. The complainant invested between May 1 and June 18

MUMBAI: The South Cyber police have registered a case against unknown persons after a 53-year-old Colaba resident lost ₹1.53 crore in one and a half months to online frauds, who lured him to invest in the name of share market. The complainant invested between May 1 and June 18.

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According to the police, the complainant was watching videos on social media when he found a video talking about stock market investments and upon clicking on a link given in the video, he was connected to a WhatsApp group on May 1.

There were more than a hundred people in the group who continuously posted chats and screen shots about profits made by them on trading in shares and investing in initial public offerings (IPOs). The group members also posted tips and instructions on how to earn high returns by investing in shares. Some of the messages on the WhatsApp group claimed that investors can earn up to 20% profit by investing in certain shares and IPOs, said a police officer.

The complainant was first approached by one Ravi Singh to trade in shares. The fraud also convinced the complainant that they would help him get an IPO, which is not easily available, to ensure that he got maximum profits. Besides, the accused also said they would even help him financially and he can also pay in installments. The complainant also started getting individual messages containing investment tips, said senior inspector Nandkumar Gopale of the South Cyber police station.

On the instruction of the accused, the complainant opened an institutional account and got a link to download a mobile app, purportedly of the stock trading firm, through which he was supposed to invest and keep track of his money. As the account was opened, the fraud first invested on his behalf and the complainant noticed profits. He then started investing and in the next one and half months, invested ₹1.53 crore in various shares and IPOs as suggested by the group moderators.

However, when the 53-year-old tried to withdraw the money shown on the app as credited in his share trading account, he was unable to do so, and so he contacted the group moderators who told him that he could withdraw only after paying 15% of the profits.

The complainant suspected foul play and approached the police. He was then directed to the South Cyber police station and, after verifying his claims, the south Cyber police registered a case under Sections 419, 420, 465, 468, 471, 120B of the Indian Penal Code along with Sections 66(c), 66(d) of the Information Technology Act, on Thursday.