Ruse of global competition used to defraud Pune senior citizen of Rs 1.68 crore

She told the complainant that their company head was participating in a global competition on economic excellence which had participants from USA, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Germany and Japan competing. He was told the prize money for the competition was 50 thousand dollars, which was going to be distributed among the voters. This money, the fraudsters said, was to be used for share trading on their ‘promising platform.’

After a fictitious voting process, and their ‘company head’ winning the fake competition, the complainant was given his share of prize as Rs 13,000 with which he was asked to ‘invest’ on a fraudulent platform. The complainant who had been trading on a legitimate platform, was made to shift to a fraudulent platform after falling for the ruse. Over the next one month, the complainant was given share trading tips and was manipulated into making as many as 23 large transfers to mule accounts totalling Rs 1.68 crore. At this point his purported earnings on the fraudulent app were displayed as Rs 13.89 crore. When he tried to withdraw his earnings, he was asked to pay Rs 76 lakh as tax. After realising that he had been cheated, he approached the Cyber crime police station.

“The new trick involves presenting victims with a seemingly legitimate international contest, complete with staged voting links, fabricated participant lists from multiple countries, and fake prize announcements to create a sense of authenticity. By exploiting trust and curiosity, the fraudsters convince victims that they are part of an exclusive financial opportunity, ultimately leading them to migrate from genuine trading platforms to manipulated, fraudulent ones designed to siphon off their money. Multiple cases of this modus operandi are getting reported.” said an officer.