Bhopal News: 77-Year-Old Man Loses ₹1.49 Crore In Digital Investment Scam | Representative Image
Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Cyber crooks duped a 77-year-old man of over Rs 1.49 crore by luring him to invest in online share trading through a Telegram group and fake trading website.
The victim approached the cybercrime branch and lodged a complaint after realising he had been conned. A case had been registered and investigations were underway, cybercrime officials said.
The complainant Dinesh Kumar Shukla of Aishbag said he received a call from some unknown people who promised him high returns for investment and added him to a Telegram group offering him expert guidance in online trading.
Members of the group posed as trading specialists and shared posts promising high returns from the stock market.
The fraudsters persuaded the elderly man to register on a fake trading website named ‘Landprime’. After registration, Shukla was guided to invest money through multiple bank transfers. Initially, the website dashboard showed profits on his investments, which encouraged him to invest more.
The victim transferred money to several bank accounts as instructed by the so-called trading experts. When he later attempted to withdraw his invested amount and profits, the website demanded additional payments on various pretexts, including taxes, processing fees and account verification charges. Believing these claims, he continued transferring funds.
In total, Rs 1,49,35,273 was transferred to around 26 different bank accounts. When the victim made another attempt to withdraw his money, the website stopped functioning and the Telegram group administrators became unreachable. Realising he had been cheated, he approached the cybercrime police.
