Defence officer loses Rs 57 lakh in online share trading scam in Pune

The police said the complainant made total nine transactions between February 26 and March 22, totalling Rs 59.77 lakh

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The data protection Act has an exemption clause for the government and its agencies, however, it is unlikely that it could be used for institutions like colleges and hospitals. (File representational photo)

A 28-year-old armed forces officer posted at a defence institute in Pune was cheated of Rs 57 lakh in an online share trading scam. The officer was cheated through a fraudulent call made in the name of the securities trading platform of a reputed private sector bank in India.

The officer registered an FIR at Uttamnagar police station on Monday. Inspector Yusuf Shaikh, in-charge of Uttamnagar police station, said, “The officer is currently posted at a defence institute in the city . In February, when he was looking for stock trading options on the internet, he was contacted by a person claiming to be an executive of a trading platform of a well-known private sector bank. He was subsequently added to various WhatsApp groups where share trading tips were being discussed among the members. He was offered high returns on the stock investments.”

The inspector added, “The complainant officer has made total of nine transactions between February 26 and March 22, totalling Rs 59.77 lakh. Between these transactions, he was given returns of Rs 2.47 lakh to lure him into making larger investments. At one point, when he tried to make a withdrawal of Rs 40 lakh, he was asked to pay a large sum as a commission. Subsequently, when he could not make any withdrawal, he realised that he had been cheated and approached the police. We have launched a probe in the case.”

Online training by ‘experts’ on advanced lessons and tips on share trading, a phone-based app for constant monitoring of investment and a promise of a prosperous future are some of the baits used by cyber criminals to defraud victims from Pune, in what the investigators are calling an ‘epidemic’ of online trading scams seen since the beginning of the year. As many as 110 people have lost a staggering Rs 18 crores in January and February. Probe has revealed that cyber criminals have misused names of several wealth management entities and Indian as well as foreign portfolio investors to entice victims.

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