71-year-old Thane man falls prey to share trading scam, loses Rs 25.88 lakh
A resident of the city's Charai area, said he was scammed between August 21 and September 3 of this year
A 71-year-old man from Thane lost Rs 25.88 lakh to cyber fraudsters who allegedly lured him with promises of astronomical returns through fraudulent mobile applications, police said on Friday.
Complainant Navalchand Punamchand Jain, a resident of the city's Charai area, said he was scammed between August 21 and September 3 of this year.
Jain told the police that the fraudsters allegedly initially added him to two WhatsApp groups titled "207-Infinity shakti" and "D1588 Prime Lab". He was then persuaded to download two "trading" apps.
The man deposited a total of Rs 25.88 lakh into bank accounts provided by the fraudsters. While the apps showed a "profit" of Rs 2.14 crore, he was told to buy Rs 40 lakh worth of new shares first before withdrawing the money. When he resisted, he was removed from the WhatsApp groups, said an official, citing the FIR.
Realising he had been cheated, Jain approached the Cyber Police Station of Thane City (Zone 1), following which a case was registered on Tuesday. A probe is underway, said officials.
