Mumbai: A 63-year-old businessman from South Mumbai was swindled out of ₹7.3 crore in a sophisticated stock market scam that lured him with promises of high returns. Over a span of two months, he was shown fake profits amounting to ₹31 crore, only to realise he had been conned when he was asked to pay an additional ₹3.7 crore to withdraw a portion of his supposed earnings.
According to an FIR registered by the South Region Cyber Police on May 17, the businessman was first contacted on February 18 via a WhatsApp group. The group members, posing as representatives of a private investment firm, claimed to offer lucrative equity investment opportunities with monthly returns of up to 10%.
One of the alleged fraudsters convinced the victim to open a trading account and sent him a registration form through WhatsApp. The document promised 10% monthly returns on investments.
On February 27, he was added to another group, supposedly for "high-value clients," and instructed to download an app to manage his investments. From March 7 to May 6, he transferred ₹7.3 crore through this app. The app dashboard later showed that his investment had ballooned to ₹31 crore.
He even managed to withdraw a small sum initially, which added to the illusion of legitimacy. However, when he attempted another withdrawal, he was told to pay a "service fee" of ₹3.7 crore. Sensing foul play, the businessman refused to pay and approached the police. The cyber police are now investigating the scam, including tracing the origin of the WhatsApp groups and the app used in the fraud.
