Pune: The owner of a labour supply firm and a private company’s employee collectively lost Rs2.31 crore to cybercrooks recently in separate online share-trading frauds.The labour supply firm owner lost Rs2 crore between Feb 2 and March 7. His son lodged a complaint on his behalf with the Pimpri Chinchwad cyberpolice. The private firm’s employee from Chikhali lost Rs30.5 lakh to cybercrooks between Sept and Oct last year. He first filed an online complaint. Later, a case was registered with the Chikhali police on Monday.The private firm staffer was allegedly assured of good returns on his investment in stocks and was told to download an app identical to that of a prominent private finance firm. The victim transferred Rs30.5 lakh to seven different bank accounts of cybercrooks after downloading the app and lost the sum to the crooks, an officer from the Chikhali police said.The labour supply firm owner was added to two groups of investors on a cellphone messaging app on Feb 2, an officer of the Pimpri Chinchwad cyberpolice said. The cybercrooks assured him of 15% returns on investments in the stock market if he invested funds through them. “They shared a link with the victim to download an app to monitor his profit,” the officer said.He said the crooks made the victim transfer money to different bank accounts under the pretext of purchasing stocks and IPOs. Within a month, he transferred Rs2 crore to nine different bank accounts. “He did not suspect anything as the app showed that he earned a good profit,” the officer said.The labour supply firm owner realised that he was being duped when he could not withdraw his profit and the crooks demanded more money from him. “The victim then informed his son, who lodged a complaint with us,” the officer said.
