Fraudulent stock market scam: Elderly man loses Rs 4.5 cr

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: A Bengaluru-based senior citizen lost his life’s savings of Rs 4.5 crore to a stock market investment scam following which efforts are on to freeze his account to stop further unauthorised payments.

The 77-year-old victim, a resident of Rajajinagar, filed a complaint with the Bengaluru North Division cybercrime police alleging that he received a call from an unknown number offering investment in stocks for high returns in the first week of March and was even offered training on how to make the right investment for better returns.

The victim agreed and joined the WhatsApp group having many people. The group administrator used to take a one-hour class every afternoon for a few days to teach the members on how to invest in stocks and block trading at the right time for better results.

A few days later, the accused offered the victim an offer of bulk stocks with up to 40% discount and shared a link to invest. Excited by the offer, the victim followed the instructions and transferred Rs 3.6 crore online and within a few days, the website was showing a total amount of Rs 5.7 crore.

When the victim tried to withdraw money, the accused asked him to pay a commission of Rs 72 lakh. The fraud came to light when the victim again failed to withdraw his money.

The police could not track the transaction details as it was a weekend and bank holiday on Saturday and Sunday. Further investigations are on to recover the funds and track the miscreants.