With promise of high investment returns, Noida man duped of Rs 9 crore in latest cyber fraud

Bothra, a resident of Noida Sector 40, is among many other people — mostly retired employees with huge amounts of savings in their bank accounts — who are targeted by cyber fraudsters online, said police. In such cases, the money is usually transferred through real-time gross settlement (RTGS), a funds transfer system that allows for instantaneous transfer of money and/ or securities.

In the police complaint, Bothra stated that he was added to a WhatsApp group named ‘GFSL Securities Official Stock C’ by an unidentified person on May 28, where the members were discussing benefits from investment in the share market.

One of the group members allegedly approached Bothra, an employee of an Information Technology (IT) company, later in the day and explained to him how to get high returns from investment in the share market. He then allegedly shared a link and asked Bothra to “just follow the mentioned steps”. On completing the process, an online application automatically got downloaded in Bothra’s cellphone and Rs 9.09 crore was transferred to some unidentified persons — through a total of 13 transactions, police added.

Bothra, meanwhile, even tried to withdraw the returns of his “investment” but to no avail. That is when he realised that he was being duped by cyber fraudsters. An FIR has been registered under relevant Indian Penal Code sections, said police.