A shocking case of cyber fraud has come to light from the Kanjurmarg area, where unidentified cybercriminals allegedly cheated a 63-year-old retired woman bank employee of ₹1.37 crore on the pretext of investing in multiple share market schemes floated by a bogus company.
Based on her complaint, the Cyber Cell of the Eastern Regional Division has registered a case of cheating and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act against 14 persons, including the group administrator of the fraudulent company, and has launched an investigation.
According to police, the complainant is a resident of Kanjurmarg and a retired employee of a reputed private bank. Her husband runs a private business, while their son is currently working and residing abroad. On November 10, 2025, while browsing YouTube at her residence, she came across an advertisement related to share trading and IPO investments. Subsequently, she was added to a WhatsApp group linked to the company, which had around 121 members.
After a few days, the group administrator began offering investment advice and presented her with three investment options. She was told that voting for companies would fetch weekly commissions of ₹5,000 to ₹10,000, investing through a call-based application or in mutual funds would yield a 10 per cent return, and investments in IPO-related share trading would provide high returns. She was assured that choosing any of the options would result in substantial profits.
Initially, the woman invested ₹80,000 through the company by selecting the call option and received ₹88,000 as returns, which boosted her confidence in the scheme. Trusting the company, she went on to invest a total of ₹1.37 crore across four different schemes. The app later showed that her account balance, including returns, had risen to around ₹3.5 crore.
However, when she attempted to withdraw a portion of the amount, the transaction failed. The group administrator then demanded an additional deposit of ₹1.5 crore, assuring her that she would receive 100 per cent returns. When she refused due to lack of funds, she was told that her invested amount would not be released and was subsequently blocked from the group.
Realising that she had been cheated, the woman approached the Eastern Regional Cyber Cell and lodged a complaint against unknown persons. Police stated that a total of 14 individuals, including the group administrator, were in contact with her during the course of the fraud. A case has been registered against all of them under cheating and IT Act provisions.
Investigators are currently tracing the bank accounts to which the defrauded money was transferred and are gathering details of the account holders. Further investigation is underway.