Pune laundry businessman loses Rs 1.15 crore in share trading fraud

The application displayed fake returns—often several times the amount invested—which lured the complainant into transferring more money. Over a period of five weeks, he made multiple transactions, with the application reflecting corresponding fictitious gains.

When the complainant sought to withdraw the funds, he was asked to pay a large sum as tax and processing fees. By then, he had transferred Rs 1.15 crore in several large transactions. Realising he had been cheated, he approached the Cyber Crime Police Station along with his son, following which an FIR was registered.

For more than two-and-a-half years now, Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad police have reported what cyber investigators describe as an epidemic—a worrying surge in online share trading fraud cases. Fraudsters use a range of tactics, including trading tips, virtual lectures, mobile applications and promises of exorbitant returns.

Officials have expressed concern that citizens continue to fall prey to such scams despite repeated advisories, sensitisation campaigns and extensive media coverage.

In an advisory issued last year, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) said, “Fraudsters are enticing victims through online trading courses, seminars, and mentorship programs in the stock market, leveraging social media platforms like WhatsApp or Telegram, as well as live broadcasts. Posing as employees or affiliates of SEBI-registered Foreign Portfolio Investors, they coax individuals into downloading applications that purportedly allow them to purchase shares, subscribe to IPOs, and enjoy ‘Institutional account benefits’—all without the need for an official trading or Demat account. These operations often use mobile numbers registered under false names to orchestrate their schemes.”