Airoli engineer loses ₹1.76 crore to cyber fraud | Mumbai news

NAVI MUMBAI: A 32-year-old engineer from Airoli lost ₹1.76 crore to cyber frauds who lured him with high returns on investment in share trading through their fraud application. The frauds posed as representatives of two reputed banks to deceive him into making the substantial investments.

According to the statement given to the cyber police by the complainant, on November 17, 2024, he came across an advertisement for YES Securities and joined a WhatsApp group named “H88-YES Phase 7 Layout.”

The group allegedly shared SEBI registration certificates and success stories from investors, which convinced the complainant to invest in the share market through their fraud application.

“He was continuously guided by individuals posing as financial experts. He looked up the ‘experts’ on LinkedIn and found their profiles. This convinced him that they were genuine,” said the investigating officer.

So, on December 27, 2024, the complainant clicked joined another WhatsApp group named “55-BARCLAYS” and opened a stock trading account on their fraud application.

“Between December 9, 2024, and February 24, 2025, he invested heavily in stocks, options trading, and IPOs, following stock tips provided by these groups. He transferred funds, including his own savings and loans taken from banks and close contacts, to multiple bank accounts linked to a fake investment platform,” said the officer.

The fake investment account showed a profit of ₹4.62 crore, but the fraud came to light when the complainant attempted to withdraw funds on February 25. “The first group manager informed him that he needed to pay a 30% commission of ₹87.74 lakh to withdraw his profits. When he requested that the amount be deducted from his earnings, it was denied. Hoping for a solution, he checked with the second group, where he was asked to pay ₹31.06 lakh as processing fees. He realised then that he had been scammed,” said the officer.

A complaint was filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) on February 28, 2025. The case has been registered under sections 319(2), 318(4), 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.

“These are highly organised financial rackets that use multiple channels on social media and operate fake LinkedIn profiles to deceive unsuspecting investors with fake stock market schemes,” said senior inspector Gajanan Kadam of Airoli PS.