A shocking case of cyber fraud has come to light from Wadala, where a 55-year-old resident lost all the shares in his demat account—valued at nearly Rs 20 lakh—while he was away in Gujarat on a pilgrimage as part of the Narmada Parikrama.
According to cyber police officials, the fraudsters managed to transfer all the shares by first changing the mobile number linked to the victim’s demat account. The accused also reportedly created an email ID resembling that of the complainant to further carry out the fraudulent transfer.
The complainant, who works as an office supervisor at a power company, had travelled to Gujarat in April for the Narmada Parikrama and visited the Garudeshwar temple. After returning to Mumbai and resuming work, he checked his demat account, only to find that all shares had disappeared.
Initially suspecting a technical glitch, he repeatedly tried to access the shares through his mobile application, but none of the 40 stocks were visible. Upon contacting the company providing demat services, he was informed that it could be due to network issues. Even after personally visiting the office, he received the same explanation.
Later, while reviewing his mobile, the complainant discovered a message indicating that the mobile number linked to both his demat and CDSL accounts had been changed. However, as he was on pilgrimage, he hadn’t seen the alert. It was also revealed that a lookalike email ID had been created and linked to his demat account.
After realizing the fraud on April 25, he visited the demat service provider’s office, where it was confirmed that 8,669 shares belonging to him across 40 different companies had been fraudulently transferred. The estimated value of the stolen shares is Rs 19.98 lakh.
Cyber police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating, as well as under the Information Technology Act. Investigations are underway.