Sunil Lohan
A 38-year-old homemaker from Ejipura has fallen victim to an online investment scam,losing Rs.12.74 lakh to fraudsters who lured her with promises of high returns through social media platforms.
The complainant,identified as Jayalakshmi K,while looking for work rom home option came across an investment-related page on Facebook while browsing.
She later contacted an Instagram account,where she was introduced to an unidentified individual who persuaded her to invest Rs.7,490 initially.
The accused allegedly assured her that within three to four hours,she would receive Rs.1,61, 469 as returns.
However,she was told that 15 percent of the amount had to be paid as “verification charges”to process the payout.Believing the claims,she transferred money to the UPI ID shared by the fraudsters.
Subsequently,she was informed that her funds were blocked and could be recovered through another contact.
She was given a mobile number of a person claiming to be a “legal advisor” named Gaurav Singh.The fraudsters also asked her to download the Signal messaging app for further communication.
Through the app,another individual identified as Amit Sharma allegedly guided her to use a trading platform called Trade Jini,claiming her money was stuck there and could be recovered after additional payments. She was further asked to contact two mobile numbers for assistance.
Trusting their assurances of recovering her funds along with profits,Jayalakshmi transferred money from her bank accounts to multiple UPI IDs and bank accounts,a total of Rs.12,74,414 before realising she had been cheated.The accused later stopped responding to her messages and calls.
Based on her complaint on Friday,the central division cyber crime police has registered an FIR against unknown persons under section 66D( cheating by personation by using any communication device or computer resources) of IT Act and 318(4) (aggravated cheating,where a person dishonestly induces another to deliver property, or create/alter/destroy a valuable security) of BNS for further investigation.
A case has been registered,and police have launched an investigation to trace the unknown accused and recover the defrauded amount.
Authorities have once again urged the public to exercise caution while dealing with online investment offers promising unrealistic returns.
