Meerut: In a fresh case of online fraud, a retired professor and his wife were allegedly duped of a whopping Rs 3.10 crore by cybercriminals posing as stock market experts.
According to police, AK Agarwal, a resident of Gangasagar and a retired professor of Roorkee Engineering College, alleged that he and his wife, Anjana, lost their life savings after two persons lured them into a share trading scheme and swindled their invested money.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Vipin Tada said the couple was trapped in the fraud scheme through WhatsApp calls and messages from the accused Ananya Sharma and Ritesh Jain as they promised high returns in share trading.
“The accused callers convinced Agarwal to open an account with Brandywine Global Company's High Net Worth Investment (HNI) on September 26. He first invested Rs 50,000 as a first installation and went to send Rs 1.73 crore from his account to various bank accounts in 22 transactions between September 26 and October 10,” he said, citing the complaint.
Tada said his wife Anjana also opened an account on October 3 and similarly lost Rs 1.37 crore.
The couple was given shares of Hyundai Motor India Limited, currently held by Brandywine Global, and informed that they couldn't sell their shares until October 31.
After many days, when the couple didn’t get any communication on their investment and returns, they realised that they had been duped, which is when they approached the police and registered a complaint.
The initial investigation revealed that the couple was added to a WhatsApp group, namely "COI Indian Stock Market Update," created on December 28, 2021, with 157 members. The group admin Jain would post daily updates on training on share trading and promises of huge profits.
Meanwhile, SSP Tada has ordered an inquiry into the fraud by the cybercrime team.
“The police have filed a report and are working to freeze the transferred amount and track down the accused,” he said.
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