Pune: A 55-year-old Nigdi resident, the former director of a company in Chakan MIDC, lost Rs11 crore between Nov last year and Jan this year to cybercrooks in an online share-trading fraud. The crooks initially gave him returns of up to Rs40 lakh on his online investments in the stock market and gained his confidence. The victim then sold his share in his company and invested it in online stocks, going on to lose this amount to the crooks.
The victim subsequently lodged an online complaint. Following verification of the same, the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police on Friday registered a case of cheating. Senior cyber police inspector Ravikiran Nale told TOI that the crooks contacted the victim through a mobile messaging app. They posed as officials of a prominent securities investment company and offered good returns on his investments in stocks through their company. “They also told him that their firm is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and shared a SEBI certificate with the victim,” Nale said.The officer said that the crooks added him to a group of investors on a mobile messaging app and provided him with information about different stocks and IPOs. They even shared tips with him. When the victim agreed to invest through them, the crooks shared a link with him to download an app so that he could monitor his investments and profit. “Believing them, the victim started investing amounts into the bank account numbers provided to him,” the officer said.He said the crooks gained the victim’s confidence by returning profit amounts to him. “When the victim got Rs40 lakh in return, he decided to trade in stocks on a full-fledged basis. He sold off his share in his company,” he said.Nale said the victim then started investing amounts as per the tips provided to him by the firm. “Till Jan 31 this year, he invested Rs11 crore in stocks. He transferred the amounts to different bank account numbers provided to him,” Nale said.He said that when the victim tried to withdraw his profit and invested capital, he was not permitted to do so. The crooks started demanding more money from him, citing different reasons. The victim then realised that he was being duped and approached the police. “After receiving the complaint application, we managed to block Rs70 lakh of the victim’s money before the crooks could withdraw it,” he said.The police registered the case under sections 338 (forgery of valuable security, will etc), 316 (criminal breach of trust), and 318 (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
