Navi Mumbai: A 39-year-old man from Belapur lost Rs 9.5 lakh to cyber fraudsters who lured him into a fake stock market investment scheme. The victim's bank account was also frozen after it was allegedly used to cheat someone in Uttar Pradesh.
The man, who was not identified by police, began his ordeal after being added to a WhatsApp group administered by Anil Shamra. He participated in a month of online training sessions where he could only hear audio from two trainers who identified themselves as Dhananjay Sinha and Jivit Modi. Following the training, he downloaded an app as instructed by the scammers.
The investment scam began with a Rs 50,000 deposit on January 15, 2024, which grew to Rs 65,000 by January 20. The fraudsters then convinced the victim to invest Rs 20 lakh for a higher return, but he was only able to commit Rs 10 lakh, transferring Rs 5 lakh from each of his two bank accounts.
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The victim made withdrawal requests for Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh on January 21 and 22, respectively. He received Rs 3 lakh in his account on January 23.
As instructed by the scammers, the victim invested in IPOs and saw allotments of shares reflected in his account. A fake profit of Rs 1.10 crore was also displayed. However, when he tried to withdraw money, he was unable to do so.
Upon contacting Anil Shamra, the victim was told he needed to pay a 10% fee, or Rs 10 lakh, to access his funds. The victim refused, and later discovered the app was no longer functioning, and he was locked out of his account.
To his shock, the man learned his bank account had been frozen. The bank informed him that Uttar Pradesh police had frozen the account in connection with a fraud case.
"The Rs 3 lakh that was transferred into his account after his withdrawal request was used by the cyber fraudsters to cheat another person in Uttar Pradesh," said a police official from the NRI Coastal Police station.
The victim filed a complaint with the NRI Coastal Police, and a case of cheating was registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology Act (IT Act). The police are investigating the matter.
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