Mumbai cyber police launched a probe into a case in which a lawyer practicing in the Bombay High Court was duped of Rs 1.58 crore after being lured by promises of huge profits through share trading.
An FIR in the matter registered at the West region cyber police station based on a complaint filed by the lawyer from Khar on December 26, 2024.
The lawyer, in his complaint, claimed that on July 13, 2024, he had received a message to join a WhatsApp group for making huge profits by investing in the share market. The WhatsApp group was created in the name of a reputed US-based securities company. After clicking a link shared in the message, the lawyer joined the WhatsApp group named “VIP”, the complaint read.
The complainant received “tips from experts” on share market on the WhatsApp group and he started making small investments, on which he made profits. According to police, after winning the lawyer’s trust, the fraudsters induced him into installing an application, BVE. The lawyer then started investing money in the share market through this app, said a police source.
The customer service assistant was helping him throughout and was guiding him to deposit money in different bank accounts to make the investment through their platform. Over a period of time, the complainant lawyer “invested” Rs 1.58 crore through the BVE app, which showed his profit amount as Rs 4 crore.
When the lawyer tried to withdraw the money, his request was declined. On contacting the customer support, the “executive” informed him to pay a tax first to enable withdrawal of money. Despite paying the “taxes”, the lawyer said, he was unable to withdraw the money.
After he made repeated requests to them, the fraudsters removed him from their WhatsApp groups, stated the FIR. The police are trying to trace the cyber fraud gang members by tracking the money trail, said another police source.
1,000 FIRs of investment frauds
A senior crime branch officer told The Indian Express that more than 1,000 FIRs have been registered in Mumbai in 2024 over cyber frauds related to share trading. In 2022 and 2023, investment frauds or share trading frauds worth Rs 3.87 crore and Rs 7.76 crore, respectively, were reported at five cyber police stations. In 2024, till June, investment frauds worth nearly 200 crore were reported.
Fraud groups from other states target those who are new to investing in stock market or share trading.
Data of such vulnerable individuals are collected by floating advertisements or social media posts, cyber police sources said.
Another cyber police officer said that around 20 per cent of the victims of share trading frauds are chartered accountants, leading bank managers, doctors, professors, serving and retired IAS, IPS, and IRS officers, and lawyers.
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