News coming in from Mumbai reveals that a 75-year-old retired ship captain lost over Rs 11 crore.
He was added to a WhatsApp group that lured him into investing in a fake company, thinking it was legit.
He was then added to another WhatsApp group and a link was sent to him to download a fake trading app.
Digital scams are at an all-time high and scammers essentially target the older population that lacks digital awareness. WhatsApp is being misused a lot to con people. News coming in from Mumbai reveals that a 75-year-old retired ship captain lost over Rs 11 crore after he was added to a WhatsApp group. The group lured him into investing in a fake company, thinking it was legit. Read to know what happened.
Back in August 2024, the victim was added to a WhatsApp group that carried the name of a reputed financial services company, hence the victim thought the group was authentic. The group admin who went by the name of Anya Smith regularly shared stock market tips and investment opportunities with the group. The victim then expressed his interest in trading on their platform.
He was then added to another WhatsApp group and a link was sent to him to download a fake trading app. Through this app, they presented offers like institutional trading, IPO investments, and OTC trading, persuading the victim to invest. Between September 5 and October 19, he transferred Rs 11.16 crore in 22 transactions to multiple bank accounts. He had doubts about different bank accounts but he was told that this was being done to “save taxes.”
When he tried to withdraw the money, the fraudsters demanded a 20% service tax for him to withdraw his funds. The victim agreed to that but they kept on asking him for additional fees.
It was then that he realised that he was scammed and he then filed a police complaint regarding the same. But it was too late.
Before you hop on to invest your money, carefully verify the authenticity of the platform that you’re using, and do not respond to messages sent by unknown numbers out of the blue. Stay safe!
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Mustafa Khan
Mustafa is new on the block and is a tech geek who is currently working with Digit as a News Writer. He tests the new gadgets that come on board and writes for the news desk. He has found his way with words and you can count on him when in need of tech advice. No judgement. He is based out of Delhi, he’s your person for good photos, good food recommendations, and to know about anything GenZ. View Full Profile
