An officer serving as a Commander in the Indian Navy has fallen victim to a cyber fraud, losing approximately Rs 78 lakh. The fraudsters deceived the complainant by providing an application that displayed non-existent digital money. When the application malfunctioned, they demanded additional funds to reactivate it. Despite making the payment, the application remained non-functional, exposing the scam.
Commander Shukla, resident of Mumbai, was added to a WhatsApp group where claims were made about earning approximately 600 percent returns through stock market investments. Engaging with a group admin named Annie, he was instructed to download an application called Provex, purportedly for substantial investments. Following her advice, Commander Shukla downloaded the app and, between March 2024 and May 2024, deposited around Rs 78 lakh across 34 transactions.
During this period, the application abruptly stopped working. Upon contacting Annie, she redirected him to another person. This individual informed him that the application would only restart if he paid 15 percent of the account balance, enabling him to withdraw his funds. Consequently, the Commander needed to pay Rs 18 lakh. He initially paid Rs 5 lakh, but when the fraudsters pressured him to pay the remaining amount, his suspicions were aroused. Realizing he had been defrauded, Commander Shukla filed a complaint with the Cuffe Parade Police Station.