Navi Mumbai: A 68-year-old retired civil engineer residing in Nerul was duped of Rs 4 crore in an online gold trading scam operated by a gang of cyber fraudsters, who lured the victim with high returns on his investment. The incident occurred between February and November last year.As the fraudsters claimed that their trading firm was UK-based, after the victim realised that he was cheated, he emailed a complaint to the UK police but did not receive any response, as the trading firm was not actually UK-based. Hence, he registered an FIR at Navi Mumbai Cyber Police Station on Thursday, senior police inspector Vishal Patil informed.
SI Vishal Patil said, “The complainant stated that he was contacted on Instagram from the ID ‘CMC Global CS’, and the person assured high returns on investment in online gold trading. The complainant claimed that between February 3 and November 22 last year, he gradually transferred a total of Rs 4,00,23,630 into different bank accounts provided to him for trading. When we obtained his bank transaction details, it was found that he transferred the money only between February and April. Thereafter, he emailed a complaint to the UK police, as the trading firm’s staff claimed that it was UK-based. As the complainant did not receive any response from the UK police, he registered an FIR at Navi Mumbai Cyber Police Station on Tuesday. Accordingly, the gang of cyber fraudsters was booked under relevant sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, cheating by impersonation, and common intention, along with the Information Technology Act for cheating by impersonation using computer resources.”SI Patil said, “We have initiated the process of freezing the bank accounts where the complainant transferred the money. However, there is a possibility that the cyber fraudsters already withdrew the money, as the complainant was defrauded almost 1 year ago.”
