Noida man loses ₹12 crore in stock trading fraud

In his police complaint, the victim said that on October 17, an unidentified woman had WhatsApped him a message, informing about investing in the share market “to make a profit”

Noida: A 50-year-old man in Noida lost ₹12 crore after being lured to invest in stock trading by cyber criminals, police said on Thursday.

Police said when he tried to withdraw some money, ₹9 lakh was credited to his account. But later when he was insisted to also buy an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for ₹17 crore, he realised to have fallen into a trap. (Representational image)

The Sector 47 resident, who did not wish to be identified, is an engineering consultant who provides technical guidance on building construction, police said, adding that the invested the money between October 17 and November 25.

A case was registered at the Cybercrime Branch police station on Wednesday.

In his police complaint, the victim said that on October 17, an unidentified woman WhatsApped him a message, informing about investing in the share market “to make a profit”.

“Later, I was added to a group and provided a link to download an App. On November 17, I was removed from that group and added to another group, where group members used to share screenshots of their daily profit to win my trust that it was a genuine platform,” reads the FIR.

“I was advised to trade with a guaranteed return, in exchange for 15 per cent commission of my profit. Initially, I started trading with ₹50,000 and later transferred ₹119,950,000 in nine transactions,” it added.

Police said when he tried to withdraw some money, ₹9 lakh was credited to his account. But later when he was insisted to also buy an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for ₹17 crore, he realised to have fallen into a trap.

“The victim then reported the incident at the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) on Wednesday, and a case under sections of cheating and cheating by personation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act was registered at the Cybercrime Branch,” said Vijay Rana, station house officer (SHO), Cybercrime Branch police station.

“The victim had transferred the money into multiple bank accounts, and a process is underway to identify the money trail and freeze the bank accounts,” the SHO said, adding that further investigation is on.