Trusting a random advertisement on Instagram about lucrative returns on share market investment left him poorer by over Rs 88 lakh in just a span of 19 days. The victim's number was added in a WhatsApp group meant to share tips on share market investment and was then induced to download a bogus trading app on which the victim could see his earnings of Rs 5 crore. However, when his withdrawal requests were denied, he realised that he had been scammed.
According to the police, the victim is a resident of Malad and works at a managerial post in a private company. On June 13, while going through his Instagram account, the victim had come across an advertisement related to share market investment. As soon as the victim clicked on the said advertisement, his mobile number got added in a WhatsApp group which had 76 members and tips related to stock market were being shared in it.
On June 28, one of the scammers contacted the victim on personal chat and asked him to download a trading app on his phone if he was interested in trading and earn huge profits. The victim was then instructed to make payments through the said app for upper circuit deal, mutual funds, block deal, right issue and IPO trade. From July 04 till July 23, the victim ended up transacting Rs 88.56 lakh through the said app and the victim could see his earnings of Rs 5.11 crore on the app, police said.
Initially the victim was allowed to make a few withdrawals; however, later his requests to withdraw the money were denied. When he confronted the scammers, he was asked to pay more Rs 70 lakh. Having realised that he had been scammed, the victim approached the cyber crime police in Mumbai and got a case registered in the matter recently. A case has been registered on charges of cheating under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Information Technology Act.
