A 77-year-old man lost his life’s savings of Rs 45 million in a stock investment scam, which police say is one of the most common forms of online cybercrime that continues to persist.
The victim, a resident of Rajajinagar, had filed a complaint with the North Cyber Crime police on Friday, following which efforts are underway to freeze her bank account and stop payments.
In his complaint, the victim said he received a call from an unknown number in the first week of March offering him high-return stock investments and even received training on how to invest properly to earn higher returns.
The victim agreed and joined a well-populated WhatsApp group. For several days, the group administrator held hour-long classes every afternoon, teaching members how to invest in stocks at the right time and block transactions for better results.
A few days later, the accused offered the victim a large amount of stock at a discount of up to 40% and shared a link to invest.
Excited by the offer, the victim followed the instructions to transfer Rs 36 crore online, and within a few days, the website showed the total amount as Rs 57 crore.
When the victim tried to withdraw the cash, the accused demanded that he pay a fee of Rs 72 lakh.
The fraud was discovered when victims tried to withdraw cash but were unable to do so – it was a bank holiday weekend so police were unable to trace the details of the transactions.
In April, a 52-year-old businessman lost Rs 52 crore in a similar manner within the jurisdiction of Southern Cyber Crime Police Station.
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