Woman cheated of Rs 24.7 lakh in fake share market investment scam in Thane

THANE: A 55-year-old woman from Charai lodged a complaint alleging that she was cheated of ₹24.74 lakh by fraudsters who lured her with promises of high returns on share market investments over a span of 20 days.According to police, the elaborate scam began on August 5 when the accused first contacted the woman through WhatsApp groups. The fraudsters, operating under the guise of investment advisors and group administrators, systematically gained her trust over the following weeks. The victim was initially added to investment-focused WhatsApp groups where fake testimonials and fabricated success stories were regularly shared. The suspects convinced her to download specific mobile applications, claiming these were exclusive trading platforms that guaranteed substantial profits. “The fraudsters showed her doctored screenshots of profits earned by other ‘investors’ and created a false sense of urgency by claiming that the investment window was limited,” said a police officer familiar with the case.Believing their promises, the victim began transferring money into multiple bank accounts provided by the suspects. Between August 5 and August 25, she was systematically manipulated into making larger investments through two separate WhatsApp groups.In the first group, she invested ₹16.33 lakh after being assured of 30% monthly returns. Encouraged by fake profit statements shown to her, she later joined a second group where she invested an additional ₹8.41 lakh, believing she was diversifying her portfolio for better returns. The fraudsters maintained the illusion by showing her inflated account balances on the fake applications and even credited small amounts initially to build confidence. However, when she attempted to withdraw her profits and principal amount after August 25, the suspects began making excuses and eventually stopped responding. “They kept telling her that there were technical issues with withdrawals and asked for additional fees for processing. When she refused to pay more money, they blocked her from the groups,” the officer added.Realising she was duped when the mobile applications became non-functional and the WhatsApp groups were deleted, the woman approached the Thane police on August 28.An FIR was registered against the mobile number holders of the WhatsApp groups under relevant sections of the BNS Act and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act.