Thane businessman duped of ₹5 Cr in online share investment scam

A Thane businessman was duped of ₹5 crore in an online share trading scam after meeting a fraudster in Dubai. Police are investigating.

THANE: A 57-year-old businessman from Thane was duped of ₹5 crore in an online share trading scam. The Naupada police have registered a case against two suspects involved in the fraud and are investigating to ascertain their identity.

Thane businessman duped of ₹5 Cr in online share investment scam

The victim is engaged in the import-export business of agricultural products. In April, he went to Dubai on a business trip, where he met a man, who introduced himself only as ‘Mr Kapoor,’ and claimed to be an employee of JP Morgan. During their conversation, Kapoor mentioned of a share trader from Mumbai, who works for an American company, describing her as highly knowledgeable and capable of providing impressive returns on investments in the share market.

After returning to Thane, he received a call from a woman, supposedly recommended by Kapoor. She told him that she worked with a company that specializes in online currency and coin trading. In his complaint, the businessman said, “The woman assured me of tremendous returns and claimed that it will change my fortunes.” Gradually he started investing through the share trading company and he initially saw good returns.

According to the police, the businessman received documents revealing an investment opportunity outlining various schemes and was pressured to invest in the schemes. To verify the legitimacy of the schemes, he checked the names of the authorities mentioned in the documents and emailed them. The authorities replied, stating that they neither sent any correspondence nor were they involved in any share trading. The businessman had already lost ₹5 crore to the fraud by the time he realized he was being deceived.

Prakash W Rake, inspector at Thane cyber police station, said that hundreds of cases of share trading frauds are registered every month. “People are lured by attractive returns and often send money blindly, without knowing the person behind the scheme. Once the money is transferred out of India, recovery becomes difficult. Raising awareness is the only solution in these cases,” he added.