Doctor loses Rs 12.3 crore in second biggest online share-trading fraud so far in Pune

PUNE: A 75-year-old general physician from Hadapsar lost Rs12.31 crore between Jan 30 and March 20 to cybercrooks, after they promised him 8-10% returns within a few months on investments in online share-trading.

The general physician (GP), whose son is also a prominent doctor, lost the amount in just 39 days because he kept on transferring sums ranging between Rs30 lakh and Rs3 crore to the fraudsters, police said. This is the second biggest cyber fraud, in terms of value, reported so far in the city this year.

An 85-year-old retired entrepreneur, also from Hadapsar, was cheated of Rs22.03 crore between Oct last year and Jan 12 this year in another online share-trading scam.

Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde of Pune Cyber Police said, "The GP told us that his cellphone was added to a group on a messaging application, where its members discussed high returns generated from online share-trading. He read all these messages and was impressed with the profits the group members generated based on tips from the group admin. He then contacted the group admin and showed interest in making such investments."

She said, "The suspect then sent him a link to an online mobile application to buy and sell shares. The GP downloaded it and started buying shares, but failed to generate high profit."

Shinde said, "The group admin then contacted the doctor and advised him to buy high-value shares. When he agreed to do so, the group admin promised to help him in buying high-value shares. The suspect told the general physician to transfer money to him so that he could buy high-value shares for the victim."

She said, "The crooks then shared details of eight different bank accounts with the general physician. The victim transferred a collective sum of Rs12.31 crore to these accounts."

Shinde said, "The share-trading application eventually showed the general physician a profit of Rs54 crore. When the complainant decided to sell the shares for profit, the fraudsters kept on demanding more money from him. He then realised that he was cheated."

Realtor loses Rs 91 lakh

A 44-year-old real estate agent from Hadapsar lodged a complaint with the Pune Cyber police on Monday, stating that online fraudsters cheated him of Rs91 lakh between Dec last year and Jan this year by promising handsome returns on investment in online share trade.

According to the police, the real estate agent's phone number was added to a group on a messaging application, where its members discussed high returns on trading shares. He then contacted the group admin, who told him to download an online mobile application to trade shares. Following this, the group admin shared about 12 bank accounts with him and promised to buy high-value shares for him. The agent transferred a total amount of Rs91 lakh to fraudsters.


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