Retired engineer loses Rs2 crore in online share fraud

Pune: Online fraudsters cheated a Kothrud-based retired engineer (66) of Rs2 crore between January and March after promising him handsome returns on investments in online share trading.

The retired engineer had initially submitted a complaint application to the police. After verification, a formal FIR was registered on Monday.

Senior Inspector Swapnali Shinde of the Pune Cyber police said, “The retired engineer was alone at home when fraudsters added his phone number to a messaging app group. Its members regularly discussed high returns they had earned through online share trading. The profit figures impressed the retired engineer.”

She said, “The retired engineer then contacted the group administrator to learn more about online share trading. The administrator told him to download a share trading-application on his cellphone.”

Shinde said, “The complainant began purchasing shares through the application, which initially showed nominal profits. The group administrator contacted him after a few days and advised him to invest in high-value shares to earn greater returns.”

According to the police, the fraudsters promised to assist the retired engineer in purchasing high-value shares. The group administrator shared details of eight different bank accounts, and the complainant transferred money to these over a period of time.

After about a month, the trading application showed the retired engineer a profit of more than Rs4 crore. Encouraged by the apparent gains, he exhausted all his savings in purchasing more shares.

“When the engineer decided to sell the shares and withdraw the profit amount, the fraudsters did not allow him to do so. He then realised that he was cheated,” Shinde said.

The cyber police have launched an investigation to trace the fraudsters and the bank accounts used in the scam.