Mumbai: A 60-year-old retired banker from Vile Parlewho had lost Rs 3.22 lakh to a share market investment fraud got the money back into his account on Thursday. The Vile Parle police said the fraudster removed the retired banker from a WhatsApp group they had added him to, but realised that he had learnt about the fraud.
The retired banker had been lured into investing in shares between Dec 28, 2024 and Jan 17, 2025 before he realised that he was duped.
“The fraudster, on sensing that I had learnt about their fraud, blocked my access to the WhatsApp group in which I was added to discuss about the investment,” he told TOI.
Inspector Rahul Sonawane of Vile Parle police station and his team managed to recover 100% of the lost money which got credited to his account on Thursday, the retired banker said.
The elderly man found out the fraud when he was removed from the WhatsApp group that had over 151 members since he complained about being unable to withdraw Rs 2 lakh from an account that supposedly showed his investment had grown to Rs11 lakh.
A officer said that the app he used showed a website resembling that of a known financial institution’s.
Inspector Sonawane said sponsored advertisements featuring deep fake videos and images of prominent persons are disseminated across social media which redirect users to fraudulent WhatsApp/Telegram groups operated by cyber fraudsters, falsely presented as legitimate trading groups, investment advice platforms, or financial advisors.
“Within these groups, cyber fraudsters disseminate information about stock market, tips, to lure people to open accounts with them for maximum profit,” he said.