Navi Mumbai man loses Rs 45.6 lakh in share trading fraud; six booked

A 44-year-old man from Navi Mumbai was allegedly duped of Rs 45.6 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured him to invest in share trading, police said on Saturday.

The cyber police on Thursday registered a case against six persons under sections 419 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and other relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology (IT) Act, an official said.

The complainant, a resident of Panvel, came across a link called "Stock Loss Recovery" on Instagram and was routed to various groups involved in stock market trading, he said.

The official said the complainant started share trading and invested Rs 47 lakh in March and April.

The complainant's account reflected a balance of Rs 98 lakh, including the profits earned from trading. But when he attempted to withdraw the earnings, he was asked to pay 18 per cent of his profits, around Rs 7 lakh, he said.

Despite complying with the demand, the victim found that additional money was getting siphoned off from his account without authorisation, the official said.

The complainant managed to reclaim Rs 1.30 lakh but could not recover Rs 45.69 lakh, he said.