A Bengaluru-based techie fell victim to a sophisticated online stock market scam, losing over ₹1.4 crore to fraudsters who posed as legitimate traders. The scammers exploited the reputation of a well-established brokerage platform, luring the victim with promises of high returns on investments. According to a report in The Times of India, the victim’s downfall began after attending online training sessions about stock market investments.
The scam started when the techie was introduced to a Telegram group managed by a fraudster who went by the name Surendra Kumar Dubey. The group had around 60 members, all seemingly involved in trading and sharing screenshots of their alleged profits. However, many of these members were later identified as impostors, working alongside the fraudsters to make the scam appear credible.
Encouraged by the group’s testimonials, the techie opened a Demat account through a link provided by the group and invested ₹10,000. Within a week, his initial investment doubled, prompting him to invest more. Over time, the victim’s account grew to ₹1.4 crore in profits, which seemed promising.
To test the legitimacy of the platform, the victim attempted to withdraw ₹85,036, which he successfully received. However, when he tried to withdraw a larger sum of ₹20 lakh, his account was abruptly blocked. Shortly after, the fraudsters deleted the Telegram group, making themselves untraceable.
The victim reported the incident to the police, leading to a case being filed under the Information Technology Act and Section 318 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (cheating). Police have launched an investigation to track down the perpetrators. Authorities have urged people to remain cautious while investing online and to verify the authenticity of platforms before committing funds.
