Retired automobile engineer in Pune cheated of Rs1.1 crore by online fraudsters

Pune: A retired automobile engineer (71) from Paud Road in Kothrud has lodged a complaint with the Pune cyber police, alleging that online fraudsters cheated him of Rs1.1 crore by promising handsome returns on investments in online share trading.According to the police, the fraud took place between April 16 and June 12 this year. The complainant was at his home in April when he received a message on a messaging application claiming that he could earn returns of up to 130%. The complainant, who has daughters, was attracted by the prospect of earning profits through share trading. “He wanted to earn some quick money to give to his daughters,” said senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune cyber police.Police said the complainant replied to the message, following which his phone number was added to a group on the messaging app. Members of the group regularly praised the group administrator for providing valuable share trading tips and discussed the high profits they had allegedly earned through online share trading. The complainant, who retired from a prominent automobile company in Pimpri Chinchwad, contacted the group admin after reading these messages, police said.

According to the FIR, “The group admin sent him a link to a mobile app for online share trading. The complainant downloaded the app and initially started buying shares of lower value.” Later, the group admin persuaded the complainant to invest in high-value shares and IPOs, assuring him of assistance in purchasing them. “The complainant trusted him, who shared details of six different bank accounts. The complainant then started transferring money to those accounts.

The group admin claimed to have purchased high-value shares on his behalf and manipulated the app to display huge profits, which convinced the complainant that his investments were genuine,” Shinde said.“The app showed profits of more than Rs2.5 crore, prompting the complainant to sell the shares. However, the group admin did not allow him to sell them. The complainant then realised that he had been cheated and approached the police,” she added.