Trapped on Instagram and lured with high profit in ‘block trading’, Bandra businesswoman loses Rs 10 lakh to cyberfraud
When she tried to withdraw the money, she was told that she needed to make more investments.
3 min read
When the complainant saw that the accused persons were trying to convince her to make more investments and not allowing her to withdraw her money, she realised that she had been defrauded. (File)Kherwadi police registered an FIR and were further investigating the case after a 52-year-old businesswoman from Bandra allegedly lost nearly Rs 10 lakh when she fell victim to cyberfraud.
The complainant, who runs an ayurvedic medicines business, came across an ad on Instagram stating “learn how to trade in stock” in December 2023. Curious, she joined their WhatsApp group called “A03 Stock Discussion Group” by clicking on a link in the post. Once she had joined, she noticed there were seven administrators in the WhatsApp group, headed by one Aryan Reddy, whom other group members referred to as “professor”. He gave advice about investing money in some good stocks and the complainant, using this advice, made a good profit through her private trading account, the police said.
In January 2024, the group admins and members started to promote block trading investment. The complainant and other members were told that they could invest small amounts, buy a company’s stock at a 5-20 per cent discount and then sell them at the market price to make a profit. The complainant said some of the group members encouraged others, claiming they themselves had made a good profit through bock trading.
Convinced, the complainant agreed to invest money and after following all procedures instructed to her, an account was created in her name on an app called Trading Institutional Account (RETAIL HOME).
On Reddy’s assistant’s instructions, the complainant invested in block trading and deposited Rs 9.82 lakh through the app in certain bank accounts. The complainant then saw her profit increase to Rs 30 lakh in her app account.
When she tried to withdraw the money, she was told she needed to make more investments. She told the accused she had no money left and requested they allow her to withdraw all her money. But the accused asked her to pay Rs 2 lakh as an operational fee, the police complaint stated.
When the complainant saw them attempt to to convince her to make more investments and not allow her to withdraw her money, she realised she had been defrauded. She then approached the Kherwadi police station and lodged a complaint on Thursday, said a police officer.
“The Kherwadi police have registered a cyber fraud complaint under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act against seven mobile phone users and are trying to obtain their details and beneficiary bank account details from the service providers and the bank,” a police officer said.
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