Army officer cheated of 40L in online forex-trading scam

Pune: A Wanowrie-based Army officer (51) has lodged a complaint with the police alleging that online fraudsters cheated him of 40 lakh by promising handsome returns on investments in foreign exchange (forex) trading.According to Wanowrie police, the fraud took place between Sept and Dec last year.The victim had initially submitted a complaint application to the Pune cyber police. After verification, a formal FIR was registered at the Wanowrie police station on Saturday.According to the FIR, the victim's phone number was added to a group on a messaging application where members were discussing high returns generated through online forex trading.Police said the victim read the messages and was impressed by the profits being discussed by the group members. He then contacted the group administrator, who sent him a link to a chart explaining how forex trading works and how it can be done using an online application. The administrator later shared a link to a mobile application for forex trading."The victim started investing in different currencies through the application. However, he failed to generate any profit. The group administrator then offered to help him purchase the ‘right' currencies and asked him to transfer money so that he could trade on the victim's behalf," police said."The accused then shared details of eight different bank accounts, and the victim transferred a total of Rs40 lakh to these accounts," police added.Police further said that the application showed that the victim had earned double the profits. When the victim attempted to sell the forex to withdraw the profit, the suspects did not allow him to do so and kept asking him to transfer more money.The victim then realised that he had been cheated and approached the police.