Noida businessman loses ₹1.15 crore to share market fraud

Police said the suspect was given a chance to withdraw the initial profits, and he did so on February 2 after which he began to trust the website as genuine.

A 39-year-old businessman was allegedly duped of ₹1.15 crore by fraudsters who allegedly lured him into investing in the share market to earn a huge profit between January 27 and March 5, said police on Wednesday, adding that a case was registered at the cybercrime branch police station on Tuesday.

A case under sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by impersonation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act was registered at the cybercrime branch police station on Tuesday. Efforts are underway to recover the money, police said. (Representational image)

Police said the complainant, Mayank Gupta, who runs an industrial consultancy firm, resides in Sector 44, Noida.

In his complaint to the police, he said, “On January 27, I received a WhatsApp call from an unidentified number, and the woman introduced herself as Rishita, a certified financial analyst. The woman gave me two website links and asked me to go through them.”

“After multiple requests, I completed the registration process for investment on the websites provided. I initially made transactions of ₹1 lakh on January 31. The next day, I was informed that I had gained a profit of ₹15,040 on that amount,” said the FIR.

Police said the suspect was given a chance to withdraw the profit, and he did so on February 2 after which he began to trust the website as genuine.

“From February 2 to 20, Gupta transferred a huge amount to earn an even larger profit. On February 27, when he decided to withdraw his profit, he was directed to pay more as taxes. Despite multiple attempts, when the fraudsters did not allow him to withdraw the amount, he deposited ₹31 lakh on March 3. He was asked to wait for 24 hours to withdraw his investment,” said Ranjeet Singh, station house officer, cybercrime branch.

“Twenty-four hours later, when he was directed to deposit more as security fees, he realised that he had lost the ₹1.15 crore that he invested over the past month,” said the SHO.

Later, he filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Portal on March 6, and a case under sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by impersonation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act was registered at the cybercrime branch police station on Tuesday. Efforts are underway to recover the money, police said.