Mumbai: A 72-year-old Mahim resident lost nearly Rs 52 lakh after falling victim to a cyber fraud wherein fraudsters impersonated representatives of a multination banking group and persuaded him to trade in shares with them. After adding the senior citizen to a WhatsApp group, the fraudsters made him download a fake share trading app, where they showed him virtual profits generated by fictitious IPOs and stock trades.The Central Cyber Police have registered an FIR and are trailing the mobile numbers used by the fraudsters to call and dupe the victim.According to the complaint, the victim was first approached by individuals identifying themselves as Riya Bansal and Amit Sachdev, who posed as a professor and official of the banking group, respectively, on WhatsApp. They invited him to join a trading-focused WhatsApp group. The victim was then directed to download an application named HSSSPMA. Once installed, the app simulated a fake trading platform, where the complainant was able to view virtual profits generated by fictitious IPOs and stock trades.Believing the trading profits to be real, the complainant was gradually coaxed into transferring large sums of money — totalling ₹51,50,100 — into multiple bank accounts allegedly controlled by the fraudsters. The victim states that he was misled into believing he was participating in legitimate IPOs and share trading via the banking group’s platform. However, the funds were siphoned off, and no actual investments were made. The scam only came to light when the withdrawal of returns was denied, and communication from the fraudsters ceased.This case highlights a growing trend in investment scams involving fake trading apps and impersonation of reputed financial institutions. Cyber police have urged the public to avoid installing trading apps from unofficial links, cross-verify investment schemes directly with official bank/customer care lines, and immediately report suspicious financial activity to 1930 or the nearest cyber police station.
[ad_1]
Source link