Bengaluru: In a shocking case, director of a private company lost as many as Rs 6.54 crore in a fake online stock trading app after he was promised to get 1500 per cent return.
Rohit Singh (name changed) aged 56, was a director in a semiconductor manufacturing company that produced LED drivers, lamps and displays. He was an active investor and use to take information from internet and YouTube channels. He received a message in WhatsApp from an unknown number which was about classes for trading and investment.
Online classes on trading used for scamming
As per the information given in the FIR, person named Aniketh Nerkar, added him in the group named “NUUAMA ELITE GROUP.” After being added he took online classes which were educating him about stock market investment.
As per a report by Deccan Herald, a police officer who investigated the video of online classed stated that some of the investment tips given in the group were successful in manipulating the victim. Rohit was also convinced by the people who shared their successful trading experiences in the group. The police offer informed that the people who post their successful stories to influence other investors in such cases are planted.
The scamsters sent him the link of a trading app which Rohit can directly use for trading. Rohit started investing in the app in hope of getting huge return. By October 14 Rohit has already sent Rs 6.54 crore to 12 different bank accounts. The police officer said that the app continued showing Rohit that he has been making huge return on his investments which he had made in initial public offerings (IPOs).
A senior officer said that all the accounts used in the fraud were “mule accounts,” and the investigators are freezing the primary bank accounts and tracking the route of money transfer. According to a police officer, this is one of the largest amount a person has lost in a scam in this year. In a similar case last year, a retired individual lost Rs 9.14 crore in a scam named ‘FedEx.’
