47-yr-old man falls for stock trading fraud, loses `33 lakh

A 47-year-old man, who works in a private company in Mumbai, was duped to the tune of Rs33.81 lakh by a scammer by promising lucrative returns on investing in stock trading. The victim was initially made to join a WhatsApp group imparting stock trading tips and was even made to attend a few online lectures on stock trading, police said.

According to the police, the complainant, a resident of Wagle Estate in Thane had joined a WhatsApp group that was promoting information on stock trading in November last year. He was then provided information about stock trading through online classes and made to register by filling out a form online to begin trading.

The scammers then shared an app with the complainant on which he could see his investments. He initially received Rs30,000 profit on his investments. In one month, the complainant was induced to invest Rs33.81 lakh in around eleven transactions. However, later when the complainant was unable to withdraw his invested money from the trading app, he confronted the scammers who did not respond to his queries.

Having realised that he had been duped, the complainant approached the police and got an offence registered in the matter last week.

A case has been registered under the Indian Penal Code section 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and sections 66C (identity theft), 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act, police said.

Complainant, a Thane resident, received `30,000 profit initially for his various investments