Mumbai: Cyber cons recently targeted a resident of western suburbs who works as a finance manager in a private company, cheating him of Rs 5.02 crore. The accused lured him into fake stock market investment and asked him download two apps to conduct share trading through them. The victim sent money to different bank accounts provided by the accused over 35 transactions. Later, when the fraudsters refused to return his money, he realised he had been duped.The 35-year-old victim lodged an FIR on Oct 16, with the West Region Cyber Crime Police Station, located in Bandra (West). As per the FIR, the crime took place between March 28 and Oct 14 this year.The complainant told police that on March 28, his mobile number was added to two different WhatsApp groups; one in the name of a US-based mutual fund that invests in companies in developing economies around the world, and the other in the name of an Indian investment banking and brokerage firm which is a subsidiary of a nationalised bank. The accused posed as representatives of these companies and lured the victim to invest in share market through them. There were eight admins to run the WhatsApp group in the name of the US-based mutual fund company, while the group in the name of the Indian company had 13 admins, all with Indian names.The accused persons asked the victim to download apps and sent him a link to create his virtual account. He was given a user ID and password to access this account where he could check his investments and profit. The complainant submitted all his details on the webpage link while creating his virtual account. The accused also took his Aadhaar card, saying it would be connected to his virtual account. They asked him to download apps in the name of these companies. These apps had no connection with the real companies and were used by the accused to cheat the victim. On Aug 6, he received Rs 1.36 lakh in his account from one of the companies. On Oct 14, he checked the two virtual accounts and found his total investments and profits had crossed Rs 7 crore.When he posted a request for money withdrawal, he was asked by the accused to pay money for various reasons. Later, they refused to give him money. This is when he realised he was cheated and approached the police. Further probe is on.
