A 55 year old Pune based businessman lost Rs 1.2 crore in an online share trading scam. The victim, a resident of Bhavani Peth, lodged the first information report (FIR) in the case at the Cyber police station of the Pune city police. As per the FIR, online fraudsters contacted the complainant in February this year offering huge returns on investments in share trading. Police said the complainant was made a part of a fraudulent WhatsApp group. Fraudsters also asked him to download an online application for share trading. Police said that with the lure of money, the complainant transferred a total of Rs 1,20,06,000 into certain bank accounts, through ten online transactions, as per the instructions of the fraudsters, between February and April. The complainant not only transferred money from his bank account, but also from his sister's account to the fraudsters, expecting good returns through online share trading. However, the complainant later came to know that he was not going to get any returns against the investments and filed a complaint with the cyber police station. Senior police inspector Suresh Shinde said, “The complainant is in the business of manufacturing and supplying gift items. An investigation is on.” Police said such online share trading scams are on the rise. Officials said that cyber criminals fish for potential targets through social media posts or phone messenger texts. Those who respond are added to online groups where they are offered online lessons and are asked to login to certain share trading applications designed by the cyber criminals. “These applications have intriguing and technical-sounding names to make them seem authentic and fraudsters also misuse many big names in the wealth management sector claiming affiliations. As victims start sending money to fraudulent accounts, the fake apps start deceitfully displaying unrealistically high returns, luring victims into further investing substantial amounts. The fraudulent apps often mimic legitimate trading platforms, creating a false sense of security even reflecting ups and downs in the market. When victims try to withdraw their earnings, the fraudsters vanish,” police said.
