On US trip, man learns he’s cheated 1cr in shares con | Mumbai News

Mumbai: A 55-year-old man, working for a private company, lost Rs 1.05 crore after he was lured into subscribing to shares through initial public offering (IPO) through a fake online platform. He realised he was cheated while he was in the USA and was asked to pay Rs 10 lakh as govt tax.
The complainant told the police that on Jun 16 last year, his mobile number was added to a WhatsApp group, B-2 5 Paisa Investment and Asset Management Group. He informed the police that the group members were sharing tips on buying and selling shares, and many were boasting about the profits they made during the trade.
One Isha Malkani was the group moderator, while Milin Mehta was shown as investment advisor, the complainant told the police. On Sept 1, Malkani sent him a link, asking him to download an app. The complainant did so and submitted the form after providing details. . He received a password and used it to register himself on the app. It contained different sections like Online Service, IPO, deposit, withdrawal, Real Name Authentication, bank card, and transaction password.
The accused persons provided him with several bank account numbers and asked him to buy shares to make good profit. When he invested during the first month, he was told that his profit and investment, collectively Rs 84 lakh, were deposited in his virtual account for the next trade. The accused then told him they had a tie-up with a Singaporean company and would link his account with that company. For this, he was asked to pay Rs 26 lakh. The complainant transferred the money. He was further asked to pay Rs 15 lakh as security deposit, which he also paid.
Mid-November, the complainant went to the USA for official purposes, where his WhatsApp was active. He then received a message asking him to pay Rs 10 lakh as govt tax. This is when he suspected something was amiss and asked his wife to contact 1930, the national cyber helpline. By then, he had already sent Rs 1.05 crore to various accounts provided by the accused. An FIR was registered on Jan 10 at the north region cyber crime police station.