Noida: An 83-year-old man in Greater Noida was allegedly duped of over ₹50 lakh in share market fraud between August and September, police said on Sunday.
₹10.6 lakh after cyber criminals hacked into his mobile phone and stole the money. (Representational image)” title=”In a separate incident of cybercrime, a 72-year-old man lost more than ₹10.6 lakh after cyber criminals hacked into his mobile phone and stole the money. (Representational image)” />Police said the victim, a retiree from a private company, hails from Gurugram and lives at Knowledge Park, Greater Noida.
In his complaint to the police, the 83-year-old said: “I received a phone call from an unknown number in early August. The caller innocently obtained information about me, my interests, etc. Later, through subsequent calls, I was enticed into investing in ‘foreign exchange trading’. I invested $50 on August 13, and was told that I had earned a profit of ₹4,900 the same day.”
Police said the scammers installed a mobile application on his phone for trading. “The 83-year-old transferred more than ₹50 lakh in seven transactions. Later, when he tried to withdraw his ‘profits’, he was asked to pay more as charges,” said a police officer, requesting anonymity.
“I feel tricked, manipulated, and brainwashed into doing this. All my liquidity is exhausted and stuck in this scam. I even took a loan (overdraft) of ₹10 lakh against a mutual fund to meet part of the investment threshold requirement,” the complainant told police.
The officer added: “The victim had not informed anybody about the incident. However, during a family trip to Badrinath in October, he was counselled after the family members sensed a change in his behaviour, and the scam came to light.”
Subsequently, the case was reported to the Cybercrime Branch police station on November 14. “We have registered a case under sections of cheating and cheating by personation of the BNS and the IT Act against unidentified suspects, and further investigation is underway,” said Ranjeet Singh, SHO, Cybercrime Branch.
Meanwhile, in another incident of cybercrime, a 72-year-old man lost more than ₹10.6 lakh after cyber criminals hacked into his mobile phone and stole the money.
The victim, who originally hails from Lucknow, is a resident of a high-rise in Sector 74 in Noida.
The 72-year-old alleged in his complaint: “On November 13, when he clicked on an advertisement on a social media platform, he was directed to WhatsApp and a man posing as a bank official called him up.”
“During the phone call, the elderly was asked to allow screen access and was sent an APK (mobile application) file. As he clicked on it, the caller gained access to his mobile phone and siphoned off the money in multiple transactions,” police said.
Subsequently, the matter was reported on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) and a case under sections of cheating of BNS and the IT Act was registered at the Cybercrime Branch police station.