In yet another scam a 63-year-old businessman from South Mumbai got duped with the promise of high returns for around Rs 7.3 cr. The scamster allegedly showed the fake profits of Rs.31 cr. The victim realised that he was scammed only when he asked to pay an additional Rs. 3.7 crore to withdraw a portion of his supposed earnings.
As per the FPJ report the FIR registered by the South Region Cyber Police on May 17, the businessman was first contacted on February 18 via a WhatsApp group. The group members, posing as representatives of a private investment firm, claimed to offer lucrative equity investment opportunities with monthly returns of up to 10%. One of the alleged fraudsters convinced the victim to open a trading account and sent him a registration form through WhatsApp. The document promised 10% monthly returns on investments.
On February 27, he was added to a group purportedly for "high-value clients" and told to download an investment app. Between March 7 and May 6, he transferred ₹7.3 crore through the app, which later displayed a balance of ₹31 crore. After successfully withdrawing a small initial sum, he was asked to pay a ₹3.7 crore "service fee" for another withdrawal. Suspecting fraud, he refused and contacted the police, who are now investigating the scam, including the WhatsApp groups and the app's origins.