Overview
- Cyber police registered an FIR and began tracing the accused and money trail in the case, which investigators rank among the city’s largest this year.
- The fraud began in late January after an unsolicited message added the victim to a WhatsApp group that posed as executives of a global financial firm.
- The group steered him to a trading app that mimicked a reputed brand and asked for his personal and bank details to set up investments.
- Under pressure and facing threats of property seizure, he made eight transfers between March 7 and March 18, sending Rs 12.31 crore to eight bank accounts.
- The app showed a fake profit of Rs 54 crore, and new demands after he sought withdrawal led him to file a complaint, as police warn of a multi-year rise in similar scams that has included a Rs 22 crore loss in January.