Fake trading app cons Colaba travel agent of ₹4.92 crore after paying out early "profit"

Mumbai: Cyber fraudsters promising big returns from online share trading have cheated a 56-year-old Colaba travel agency owner of ₹4.92 crore, police said. To make the scheme look genuine, they first let him withdraw ₹2.97 lakh in supposed profits. The South Region Cyber police have registered a case of cheating, forgery and impersonation, along with sections of the Information Technology Act.

According to the police, the complainant runs a tours and travel business in Colaba and invests in mutual funds and SIPs but had no experience of the stock market. On August 10 he saw a share-trading advertisement on social media and filled in a form. A woman then called him and added him to a WhatsApp group that shared investment tips, in which members appeared to be making money.

On August 17 she got him to download a trading app. For each investment the app supplied a bank account number; he paid by RTGS or NEFT, and his portfolio on the app showed steady gains. By September 27 he had put in about ₹4.92 crore. A withdrawal of ₹2.97 lakh that went through on September 17 convinced him the platform was real, and he persuaded a 48-year-old employee to invest as well. The employee lost about ₹10 lakh.

His later withdrawal requests were repeatedly turned down. When he asked why, he was told he had invested in IPOs and would have to pay more before any money could be released. Suspicious, he called the cyber helpline, and the complaint was passed to the South Region Cyber police. Police regularly advise people to distrust investment tips from unknown advertisements and messaging groups, and to report fraud to the cyber helpline at once.

Source: Hindustan Times