In the second biggest cyber fraud of the year in Mumbai, a 75-year-old Colaba-based retired ship captain was defrauded of nearly Rs 11.16 crore by cyber fraudsters through a share trading scam. The South Zone Cyber Police registered a crime in the matter on Monday.
On August 19, 2024, the mobile number of the complainant was added to a WhatsApp group containing the name of a leading financial services company. A woman named Anya Smith uploaded information to the group and asked fellow members if they were willing to invest in it stock market Through your platform and strategy. The complainant, confirming the name of the WhatsApp group, is a regular investor stock marketGave his consent to the woman.
After this Smith added his name to another group and also shared a link. The complainant clicked on the link and downloaded the company’s app for trading. The complainant said that after this, he started receiving messages from Smith and his associates regarding institutional account trading, OTC trading, IPO etc. fir,
The complainant was asked to send money to various bank accounts to invest in stocks recommended by Smith and his associates. Expressing doubt on multiple bank accounts, when the elderly man asked him about this, he told that this was being done to save tax.
The FIR states that between September 5 and October 19, the complainant sent Rs 11,16 crore to various bank accounts in 22 transactions as per the instructions of the accused persons.
Police sources said that while making these transactions, the complainant did not raise much suspicion as he could see on the company’s app that the money was being credited to his account as well as the profit earned on the investment.
The complainant was very happy to see huge profits in his account in the trading company’s app. However, when he attempted to withdraw the benefits, his request was rejected. He then contacted Smith and asked for assistance in withdrawing his profits.
After this Smith told him that he would have to pay 20 percent service tax on the entire amount. Despite the complainant paying this “service tax”, he was asked to pay more money in the form of other charges for withdrawing the money. Police officials said that this made him feel that he was being cheated.
He went to the head office of the financial services company to clear his doubts and lodge a complaint. There he is surprised to learn that he has invested money in a fraudulent company. After this he reached the police and lodged a complaint. South Zone Cyber Police has registered a case against two unidentified fraudsters under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act and initiated investigation.
During preliminary police investigation, it was revealed that the bank accounts of the company in which the complainant was asked to deposit money for investment purposes were in different banks namely UCO Bank, ICICI Bank, Canara Bank, Bandhan Bank, Bank of Individuals had. MaharashtraAnd Catholic Syrian Bank has branches BhopalBandra (Mumbai), Nagpur, SuratHyderabad, Ghazipur, LucknowBanaskantha, Howrah, Bharuch, Bhilai and Jaipur. The investigators were in the process of writing letters to the concerned banks seeking details of the beneficiaries.
In April this year, a senior citizen from the city’s western suburbs was duped of nearly Rs 25 crore in a digital arrest cyber fraud method. This is the biggest cyber fraud case of this year in Mumbai. The elderly woman was intimidated by fraudsters who posed as CBI officers. He said that his name surfaced in a money laundering case and later they tricked and defrauded him into depositing his life savings in bank accounts in the name of refundable verification process. Sources in the cyber police department said that only about Rs 5 lakh could be saved by the police as it reached the police very late.
Cyber police officials have appealed to citizens to immediately contact the national cyber crime helpline number 1930 if they are targeted by cyber fraudsters. Cyber police officials said that the sooner victims contact the helpline, the higher the chances of getting the lost money back.