Mumbai: Senior Citizen Loses ₹1.35 Crore in Fake Share Trading Scheme, Accused Arrested

The North Region Cyber Cell has arrested a man involved in duping a 76-year-old senior citizen of ₹1.35 crore under the guise of share-market investments. The arrested accused has been identified as Wasim Mehfal Shaikh, who had opened multiple bank accounts for a group of cyber fraudsters. Investigations revealed that crores of rupees linked to various online fraud cases had been routed through these accounts.

The complainant, a 76-year-old Goregaon resident and retired employee from a Goa-based company, currently works as a mechanical engineering consultant. An active investor, he holds three demat accounts and regularly trades in the share market. While exploring stock-related information on social media, he was added to a WhatsApp group with 108 members, which was falsely portrayed as being operated by a reputed company.

Believing the group to be genuine, he opened the shared link and uploaded his personal details. Soon, individuals posing as senior officials from the company contacted him and began giving investment advice for Indian and international stocks, promising high returns. When he invested initially, he received profits transferred directly to his bank account, which increased his trust.

Encouraged by the returns, the senior citizen invested ₹1,35,19,500 between April and June 2025 in various shares as advised by the fraudsters. Though his investment portfolio showed large profits, he was unable to withdraw the amount from the platform despite repeated attempts. On raising the issue with the group admin, he was asked to invest more money and was threatened that failure to do so would result in losing both his principal and profit.

Realising he had been cheated, the victim approached the Cyber Cell.

Based on his complaint, the police registered a case against four unidentified cyber fraudsters under cheating and relevant provisions of the IT Act. Technical analysis led the police to Wasim Shaikh, who was taken into custody.

Investigations confirmed that Shaikh had opened several bank accounts specifically for cyber criminals. The victim’s money was deposited into these accounts, and Shaikh would earn a fixed commission after handing over the funds to the fraudsters. Police also found that these accounts had been used in several other online fraud cases.

The police are now tracking the remaining accused and analysing money trails to uncover the full network involved in the racket.