Nagpur: In a disturbing case of cybercrime, a retired Public Works Department (PWD) officer in Nagpur was swindled out of Rs 72 lakh by fraudsters luring him with the promise of 700-fold returns on stock market investments. Acting swiftly, the Cyber Police registered a case and succeeded in freezing Rs 15 lakh traced to the fraudulent transactions. Officials have withheld the victim’s identity as investigations continue into the high-stakes scam.
According to police, the victim is a 60-year-old retired PWD officer who had recently received his retirement benefits. On June 9, he got a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The caller introduced himself as Imtiazur Rahman, claiming to be the director and chairman of Unit Trust of India (UTI). The fraudster told the officer that by investing in the stock market through his scheme, he could earn 700 times profit.
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To gain the victim’s trust, the caller added him to a WhatsApp group where other “members” were sharing fake profit screenshots and praising the scheme. Convinced by this, the retired officer invested Rs 72 lakh he had received from retirement into the scheme through a mobile app provided by the fraudster. Initially, the officer was shown fake online profits on the app, which made him believe the investment was working.
However, when he tried to withdraw the money, the fraudster told him he needed to invest an additional Rs 50 lakh to release the funds. When the officer refused and demanded his money back, he was blocked from all communication channels. Realizing he had been cheated, the victim approached the Cyber Police Station on July 29 and filed a complaint.
Once the complaint was filed, the cyber police immediately began tracing the transactions. They identified several bank accounts through which the money was routed. During the investigation, they found Rs 15 lakh still lying in one of the fraudster’s accounts and quickly froze it to prevent further withdrawals. Police officials said they are now tracking the remaining funds and identifying the chain of accused involved in the scam. They have also warned citizens not to fall for get-rich-quick schemes or offers that promise unusually high returns.
