Chennai: A former forest service officer lost 6.58 crore to cyber fraudsters who lured him to join bogus share trading apps through WhatsApp messages.
In his complaint, Krishnan Kumar Kaushal, 60, who retired in July 2024 as principal chief conservator of forests, said that he received the messages in Dec 2024.
Believing the promises of high returns, he downloaded two apps and transferred all his savings, retirement benefits and house sale proceeds totalling 6.58 crore to the bank accounts mentioned.
After observing the payees were in different parts of the country and doing different businesses and the data in the apps was fake, he registered a complaint with ‘1930′ cybercrime helpline. A case was registered and investigations begun.