Bengaluru man swindled of Rs 6.54 crore in online trading scam
Bengaluru: In a massive online trading scam, a director of a private company in Bengaluru has reportedly lost Rs 6.54 crore after being lured by scammers promising him a ‘1500 percent return’ on investments through a fake online stock trading app.
Senior police officers believe this incident is among the largest sums lost by an individual victim to the trading scam in the capital city this year. According to a report by Deccan Herald on Monday, the 56-year-old man whose company manufactures semiconductor LED drivers, lamps and displays, used to trade in stocks through his demat account. He received a WhatsApp message on August 11 this year from an unknown number inviting him to join ‘NUUAMA ELITE GROUP’ for “classes” on trading and investment. He was subsequently added to the group by an individual named Aniketh Nerkar.
According to the FIR, he attended online classes where investment strategies were shared for nearly a month. An officer noted that some tips shared in the group appeared to be accurate. “This is one way the scamsters convince the potential victims,” a police officer told DH, adding that they have learnt that the tips the scammers offer will be on the stocks that are already on the way up or have the potential to go up the following days.
The victim was astonished to see the “success stories” shared on the WhatsApp group and was allegedly told he would get a “1,500% return on his investments”.
The officer added that scammers post the screenshots of their gains to psychologically convince the victim that the scheme is genuine and the same happened in this case.
Eventually, Kumar began transferring money after downloading a trading app shared by the scammers. Between the start of the scam and October 14, he wired Rs 6.54 crore to 12 different bank accounts.
Throughout the process, the app displayed simulations indicating that Kumar was making significant profits from his investments. However, when he attempted to withdraw his funds, he was asked to pay Rs 2.5 crore in fees. This prompted him to file a complaint with the cybercrime police on October 16.
A senior officer told the publication that the investigators have begun freezing the primary (first beneficiary) bank accounts and tracing the money trail and added that all accounts used in this case were “mule accounts”. A team led by Tanveer SR, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Northeast CEN), is probing the case.
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Sambhal violence orchestrated by BJP, govt to divert attention from poll rigging: Akhilesh Yadav
Lucknow (PTI): Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday alleged the violence in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal district over the survey of a mosque was "orchestrated" by the BJP, the government and the administration "to divert attention from electoral malpractice".
Police used tear gas and "minor force" in the face of stone pelting by locals in Sambhal on Sunday as tension escalated during a second survey of the Mughal-era mosque, claimed to be originally the site of an ancient Hindu temple.
Ten people have been detained and a probe was launched into the violence, an official said.
Tension has been brewing in Sambhal over the past few days after the Jama Masjid was surveyed last Tuesday on the orders of a local court following a petition that claimed that a Harihar temple stood at the site.
A day after the Uttar Pradesh bypoll results were declared and the Samajwadi Party managed to win just two seats while the BJP and its ally RLD bagged the other seven, Yadav levelled serious allegations against the police and administration.
"A serious incident occurred in Sambhal. A survey team was deliberately sent in the morning to disrupt discussions about the elections. The intention was to create chaos so that no debate on election issues could happen," the Samajwadi Party chief claimed.
Citing reports, he said several people were injured in the violence in Sambhal and asked when a survey of the mosque was already done, why was a new survey conducted again and "that too in the morning and without preparation?"
"I don't want to go into the legal or procedural aspects, but the other side was not even heard. This was intentionally done to provoke emotions and avoid discussions on election rigging," Yadav said.
"What happened in Sambhal was orchestrated by the BJP, the government and the administration to divert attention from electoral malpractices," the former UP chief minister alleged.
Asserting that in democracy, true victory comes from the people, not the system, he said, "The new democracy created by the BJP ensures that people cannot vote while the system dominates."
He added that whenever an impartial investigation takes place, and the truth comes out through booth recordings and CCTV footage, it will be evident that "voters did not cast their votes and someone else became the voter inside the booth".
Yadav claimed that on the polling day, the police and the administration removed the Samajwadi Party's almost all booth agents and many supporters who wanted to vote.
"If voters were prevented from voting, then who cast the votes? If Samajwadi Party votes didn't reach those booths and our candidate didn't get support, then who voted there? This is a serious issue," he said.
"Additionally, there were two types of slips, -- one with a red mark and another regular slip. We raised this issue on the voting day itself, stating that the administration had created such arrangements, leading to discrimination," Yadav alleged.
The Samajwadi Party's candidate for the Kundarki assembly bypoll Haji Rizwan too has alleged that his supporters were prevented from voting.
The BJP's Ramveer Singh won the bypoll in the Kundarki seat by a margin of over 1.45 lakh votes.
