Greater Noida: Man loses ₹69.7L in investment fraud

The victim alleged in his complaint that he was added to a WhatsApp group, related to stock trading advice, after clicking on a social media platform around a month ago

Greater Noida A 49-year-old man in Greater Noida West was allegedly duped to the tune of ₹69.73 lakh on the pretext of making a huge profit in share market between June 16 and July 16, police said on Sunday.

From June 16 to July 16, the victim transferred ₹69.73 lakh in multiple transactions, and when his portfolio showed a profit of ₹1.72 crore, he tried to withdraw it. They (suspects) asked him to pay brokerage. (Representational image)

The victim, a software engineer, resides with his family in Greater Noida’s Gaur City.

Police said the victim, who didn’t wish to be identified, alleged in his complaint that he was added to a WhatsApp group, related to stock trading advice, after clicking on a social media platform around a month ago.

“Later he was added into another group and offered to invest in the stock market to earn huge profit,” said an official, requesting anonymity, adding that the victim was informed about Initial Public Offering (IPO), institutional (held by large institutional investors), and Over-the-Counter (OTC) (securities not listed on a major stock exchange) stocks.

Police said the victim started investing with a small amount and was allowed to withdraw some money. “Initially, they allowed me to withdraw some money to build the trust, but after that they denied the withdrawals in spite of the fact that my Demat account showed a huge balance,” reads the FIR citing him.

“From June 16 to July 16, the victim transferred ₹69.73 lakh in multiple transactions, and when his portfolio showed a profit of ₹1.72 crore, he tried to withdraw it. They (suspects) asked him to pay brokerage,” said Cybercrime Branch station house officer Ranjeet Singh, adding that despite multiple attempts when the victim was not allowed to withdraw, he realised to have fallen into a trap.

Later, a case was reported to the cybercrime branch police station, and a case of cheating by impersonation of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and IT Act was registered against unidentified suspects on Saturday, police said.