A Ghaziabad businessman has reportedly been defrauded of Rs 28 lakh in a stock trading scam, according to the police.
The victim, Dinesh Kumar, 50, joined a WhatsApp group on April 3 that offered tips for trading on the NSE and US stock exchanges. Following advice from an investor who invited him to join the group, he opened a trading account and initially saw good returns, but soon started incurring losses, the police reported.
Kumar, a Vasundhara resident, eventually sought police assistance. “The man used to give NSE stock calls on the group, which looked very profitable. On May 5, he asked the group members people to join an international trading account, which, as per him, was registered on the SEBI website. He said he would give trading calls for NSE and US stocks for five weeks… I opened an account (using a) link on May 6, with an amount of Rs 30,000… and started trading,” Kumar alleged in the FIR.
The complainant verified the platform’s authenticity by withdrawing money. “He (the man) then (said) that he is creating another group, called ‘Investment Alliance’, for persons whose trading account had… more than Rs 10 lakh. I was (made a part of this) group. He (gave) trading calls (NSE stock calls) in the morning and US stock calls in the evening. The daily profit was more than 10 per cent,” the FIR read.
Kumar also mentioned that profits were being generated in the trading account and he deposited the earnings into various accounts in parts.
“On May 20, (the man) told the group that his firm… will give an… IPO allocation in… the trading account to those trading with him. I also got some shares; it was listed on May 28 and a profit to the tune of 100% was generated by the IPO,” Kumar stated in his complaint.
Kumar alleged that by the end of May, the man claimed he would launch another IPO for which people could apply and pay after the allotment.
“My trading account balance at that time was more than Rs 1 crore. I was an allotted IPO more than my trading balance. When I expressed my inability to deposit more funds and asked to withdraw my amount, they did not let me do so. (they) asked me to deposit more money. The total amount deposited by me till that time was Rs 27.57 lakh,” added Kumar.
The police have registered a case under Indian Penal Code Section 420 (cheating) and Section 66D of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, at the Cyber Crime police station and are investigating.
“Such cases are increasingly rapidly. Fraudsters contact people through messages while they surf online for higher returns through trading. We have written to the banks regarding the account holders’ details where the money was deposited. Further legal action is being taken,” said an officer.
