Pune: Homemakers And Senior Citizens Lose Rs 1 Crore In Online Share FraudsÂ
Pune: Homemakers And Senior Citizens Lose Rs 1 Crore In Online Share FraudsÂ
14/August/2024.
A shopkeeper from Kothrud, along with two homemakers, a techie, and a retired individual, fell victim to online share trading scams totaling Rs 1.05 crore between April and July this year.
In each case, the fraudsters added the victim’s phone numbers to a group on an instant messaging app. When the victims expressed interest in online trading, the scammers provided bank account details and instructed them to transfer money for trading. After receiving the funds, they cut off all communication with the victims.
The shopkeeper, aged 45, lost Rs 35.1 lakh and filed a complaint with the Alankar police on Monday. The two homemakers, aged 43 and 31, lost Rs 26.4 lakh and Rs 7 lakh, respectively. The woman who lost over Rs 26 lakh filed a complaint with the Market Yard police, while the other approached the Sinhagad Road police. The techie, 38, from Narbe, was defrauded of Rs 16 lakh, and a retired senior citizen, 66, from Shirgaon, under the Pimpri Chinchwad police jurisdiction, lost Rs 38 lakh.
According to reports, the shopkeeper’s phone number was added to a messaging application’s group by an unidentified individual on May 31. The group members were discussing the profits made from online share trading, which caught the victim’s attention and led him to decide to invest in shares. She mentioned, “After initial discussions, the group admin sent him a link to an online software where he could trade shares.”
The official said, “Later, the group admin told him to invest in large-cap shares and promised to help him out. The suspect shared details of seven bank accounts with him and told him to transfer money to them.”
Official further added, “After receiving the money, the fraudster kept on demanding more money and did not allow the victim to withdraw his investment and the profit. Later, the group admin stopped communicating with him, and the victim realized that he had been cheated.”
