Mira-Bhayandar: A 52-year-old man from Mira Road became the latest target of cyber fraudsters who cheated him of his savings amounting more than Rs 30 lakh under the guise of providing sale-purchase tips which could fetch him guaranteed profits up to 800 percent on his investments in the stock market.
In his statement to the Kashimira police, the complainant who worked in the aviation sector and had recently retired, stated that his number was added to a WhatsApp group in which around 134 members participated in stock market related discussions and shared the details of their earnings.
After observing the discussions, the complainant got induced and started investing money. He transferred Rs 30.20 lakh via ten transfer transactions to specified bank accounts with a span of just 25 days in December.
Although his account on the apparently fake investment website displayed the value of his current holdings at more than Rs 2.26 crore (around 1.96 crore profit on investing Rs 30.20 lakh) he was unable to withdraw his investment nor profit. When contacted the group admin asked him to transfer Rs 45.32 lakh towards service fee in order to facilitate the withdrawal.
Realising he was cheated; the man registered a complaint at the Kashimira police station following which an offence under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) of 2023 was registered against the fraudsters on Thursday night. Efforts were on to identify the bank accounts holders and trace the money trail, said the police.
