Pune Faces Surge in Online Fraud Cases, Victims Lose Crores in Scams

A 44-year-old man was cheated out of over Rs. 1 crore, under the pretense of being paid for completing online tasks between July 22, 2023, and March 13, 2024, in the Pimple Saudagar area of Pimpri Chinchwad. Deepak Raju Rade, 44, residing in Pimple Saudagar, filed a complaint at Sangvi police station, leading to the registration of a case against a woman identified as Suman Sachdev. According to authorities, Suman contacted Deepak through Telegram and, along with her associates, assigned tasks to him through the platform. They enticed the complainant with promises of substantial returns for completing these tasks, ultimately gaining his trust and defrauding him of the aforementioned sum.

Instances of fraud involving online tasks are reportedly increasing, with daily complaints being lodged with the police. Authorities are urging the public to steer clear of such fraudulent schemes. Despite these warnings, such incidents persist. Sangvi police are conducting further investigations into the matter. In a separate fraud incident, a person was swindled out of Rs 36,67,000 between December 29 and February 27. Pankaj Prabhakar Terkar, 39, residing in Man, Mulshi district, lodged a complaint at Hinjewadi police station on March 13. Consequently, a case has been registered against a woman. As per police reports, the accused woman added Pankaj to a WhatsApp group and sent him a link under the guise of providing guidance on share trading. Pankaj was coerced into registering through the link and was initially asked to invest Rs 30,000.

After initially profiting Rs 20,000, Pankaj reinvested, following instructions to invest at regular intervals. He was eventually asked to invest a total of Rs 54,39,000. Unable to continue due to financial constraints, Pankaj attempted to exit the scheme, only to be threatened by the accused with freezing his earnings and investments, as well as being labeled a credit defaulter in the stock market. Pankaj succumbed to the demands and invested a total of Rs 36,67,000 at regular intervals. The accused subsequently defrauded him and ceased responding to his calls. Hinjewadi police are actively investigating the case.