New Delhi: Two men, promised high financial returns by cyberfrauds over WhatsApp chats, ended up losing Rs 93 lakh in total after subscribing in the fraudulent schemes.
Victim 1: MNC Manager Loses Rs 45 Lakh
One of them is a 37-year-old manager in a multinational company, who said he lost Rs 45 lakh. Both men told the police that they got messages from unknown numbers on WhatsApp.
The manager said he got a link on WhatsApp, using which he joined a group in October last year. Through the group, he was introduced to a person who claimed to be his personal advisor. After observing the group’s activities for nearly two months, he downloaded an application.
After monitoring the platform for another month and comparing it with other investment instruments in the market, the manager invested Rs 15,000. A month later, he was removed from the group. When he contacted the administrator, he was told that his trial period had ended. He was asked to join a VIP group, using another link, which he did.
The manager, a resident of southwest Delhi’s Uttam Nagar, was then persuaded to invest more, supposedly in IPOs. For his first two investments, he received email confirmations and was able to successfully withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh. This strengthened his trust in the platform.
Encouraged by the returns, he invested more in the so called “IPOs and AI-based mutual funds”. However, when he attempted a second withdrawal, he was repeatedly asked to deposit more money as fees and commissions. Despite making the payments, the withdrawal was never processed.
He realised then that he had fallen victim to an online investment fraud. In three months, the fraudsters extracted Rs 45 lakh from him. The man stopped putting in money in January. The case of cheating was registered this month.
Victim 2: Mandawali Resident Loses Rs 48 Lakh
In another case, a resident of east Delhi’s Mandawali lost Rs 48 lakh. He, too, was added to a WhatsApp group where the administrator regularly shared stock recommendations, trading calls and investment advice.
He initially invested Rs 5 lakh in February. Within a short period, the platform showed substantial profit. His portfolio value rose to about Rs 15.5 lakh in one month. The supposed astronomical gains encouraged him to invest larger sums. Later, the fraudsters promoted an IPO and said the investors could subscribe for shares worth up to ten times their available capital.
Trusting the claims, he subscribed. The platform showed he would have to invest Rs 58 lakh. To meet the alleged payment obligations, he arranged for some of the money by borrowing from relatives and friends. In total, he transferred Rs 48.1 lakh into various bank accounts provided by the frauds. He later realised that he had been duped.
Police Investigation Underway
Police said cheating cases have been registered in both instances and an investigation is under way.
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