Retired Noida engineer duped of Rs 80 lakh by cyber fraudsters, FIR filed

According to police, the complainant, a former engineer with a private firm, came in contact through WhatsApp in August this year with an unknown person who claimed to be an expert in stock trading and offered to help him earn profits through online investments.

“The man then added the complainant to a WhatsApp group where several members were already sharing screenshots of profits earned from investments. Convinced by the group’s activities, the engineer initially invested a small amount. Once he was able to withdraw the amount, he started trusting the group’s activities,” said an official.

The complainant told the police that he invested more funds over the next few weeks. “In total, he transferred around Rs 80 lakh in more than 10 transactions to different bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. During the process, the accused made him install a fake trading application on his phone, through which he could see his “investments” and “profits” grow virtually,” said police.

The official said that when he tried to withdraw his funds along with the shown profits the scammers started demanding more money under the pretext of paying taxes and transaction charges. “When the engineer refused to make any further payments, he was abruptly removed from the WhatsApp group, and all the phone numbers used by the accused were found switched off,” the official added.

Officials said the preliminary investigation revealed the amount was transferred into several accounts opened using forged or rented identities. “We have initiated the process of freezing the identified bank accounts and have already managed to block a substantial portion of the cheated funds,” a police officer said.

A special two-member team has been formed to trace the accused and uncover the racket’s network.