A 67-year-old retired businessman was allegedly duped of ₹ 68.77 lakh after falling victim to a cyber fraud involving stock market investments in Noida, Sector 128, police said on Sunday.
₹1.06 crore more as charges, said police.” title=”The suspect asked the victim to transfer ₹1.06 crore more as charges, said police.” />The victim, who did not wish to be identified, is a resident of a high-rise in Noida, Sector 128.
In his complaint, the victim stated, “On July 16, I was approached by an unidentified woman who added me to a stock trading group and offered to help me earn money by investing in the share market.”
Police said the woman gained his trust and convinced him to start investing. On July 22, he made his first transfer of ₹ 50,000 to a bank account provided by the suspect. “From July 22 to August 8, he transferred ₹68.77 lakh in multiple transactions, assuming that his money would be doubled,” said a senior police officer.
The fraudsters provided him with a fake investment portfolio that eventually showed a profit of over ₹ 5 crore, police said and added that he was unable to withdraw any money.
“When I tried to withdraw my investment, the suspect woman told me to pay 15 percent capital gains tax and 5 percent service charge on the profit of ₹ 5.99 crore of his invested amount,” read the FIR.
Police said the suspect asked the victim to transfer ₹1.06 crore more as charges. When the victim refused to pay additional charges, the fraudsters started threatening him over social media.
A case under Sections 318 (cheating) and 319 (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act was registered against the unidentified suspect at the Cybercrime Branch police station, and further investigation is underway,” said Ranjeet Singh, Station House Officer, Cybercrime Branch, adding that efforts are on to recover the money and further investigation is underway.