Four lose 75 lakh in online share-trading frauds

Pune: In separate cases, four people collectively lost Rs 75.3 lakh in online share frauds between Sept last year and March.The Sangvi, Nigdi, Deccan Gymkhana and Bharati Vidyapeeth police stations have registered separate cases on Thursday.The cybercrooks used same modus operandi of luring people on social media platform with high-returns bait and making them transfer hefty amounts to the bank accounts they provided to the victims.Fraudsters contacted a resident of Karve Road (71) on a social media platform in Jan. They then added him to a cellphone messaging application and assured good returns if he invested in stock market through their firm's application.The victim agreed and cumulatively transferred Rs 37.3 lakh between Jan and March in different bank accounts the crooks gave him. The victim realised that he was being duped when he was not allowed to withdraw his money.Similarly, a 43-year-old private company employee from Katraj lost Rs 14 lakh to the cybercrooks in the online share-trading fraud between Nov 24 last year and Jan.The crooks assured him of 35% interest on his investments in the stock market. The victim transferred Rs 33 lakh to different bank accounts. They, however, returned Rs 19 lakh to the victim. The latter approached the Bharati Vidyapeeth police when he did not get his remaining Rs 14 lakh.Using same methods, cybercrooks duped a Nigdi-based woman, employee of a private company, of Rs 16 lakh between Sept and Nov last year. The woman lodged an online complaint. A case was registered with the Nigdi police on Thursday.In the Sangvi case, cybercrooks took Rs 10 lakh from the victim between Dec last year and Feb. They showed him that the latter earned a profit of Rs 90 lakh on his investment. When the victim tried to withdraw his money, the crooks demanded more money from him and never returned the victim's money, Sangvi police said.