Senior citizen loses ₹4.5 crore to stock market investment fraud

A 77-year-old man lost his life’s savings of ₹4.5 crore to a stock market investment scam, which, according to senior police officers, is one of the most common forms of online cybercrimes continuing unabated.

The victim, a resident of Rajajinagar, filed a complaint with the north division cybercrime police on Friday, following which efforts are on to freeze the bank accounts to stop payments.

In his complaint, the victim said he got a call from an unknown number offering investment in stocks for high returns in the first week of March and was even offered training on how to make right investment for better returns.

The victim agreed and joined the WhatsApp group having many people. The group admin used to take a one-hour class every afternoon for a few days to teach the members on how to invest in stocks and block trading at the right time for better results.

A few days later, the accused proposed the victim an offer of bulk stocks with up to 40% discount and shared a link to invest.

Excited by the offer, the victim followed the instructions and transferred ₹3.6 crore online and within a few days, the website was showing a total amount of ₹5.7 crore.

When the victim tried to withdraw money, the accused asked him to pay a commission of ₹72 lakh.

The fraud came to light when the victim tried to withdraw the money, but he could not. The police could not track the transaction details as it was a weekend and bank holiday.

In April, a 52-year-old businessman lost ₹5.2 crore in a similar way in the south division cybercrime police station limits.