MUMBAI: A 53-year-old senior official of the MMRDA, posted as Revenue and Sub-Land Manager, became a victim of share trading cyber fraud, losing Rs 1.69 crores to the scam. The fraudster, under the pretext of investing his money in buying IPO and upper circuit shares, showed him a virtual profit of Rs 9.91 crore.
When he requested to withdraw the amount, the fraudster informed him that he needed to pay an “Economic Service Fee” amounting to 18% of the profit (Rs 1.45 crore). Desperate to access his money, the officer initiated a withdrawal of Rs 90 lakh, followed by another attempt to withdraw Rs 9 crore.
The app showed the transactions as “successful” or “pending,” but no money was ever credited to his IndusInd Bank account, and thus he realised that he was duped.
The officer, who is posted as Revenue and Sub-Land Manager, lodged a complaint with the Nodal Cyber Police Station, Maharashtra Cyber, claiming that he was lured into the scam through an advertisement on Facebook that appeared to represent a global bank.
On January 30, while browsing Facebook, he came across an advertisement, and when he showed interest, he was shortly contacted on WhatsApp by one Priya Sharma, purportedly claiming to be an assistant with the bank. She added him to a WhatsApp group titled “G510 Opportunity Creator” and encouraged him to begin investing.
During the initial chats, the victim expressed his willingness to invest Rs 50,000, which Sharma acknowledged and then added him to another WhatsApp group called “HSBC G-32 Capital Customer Care.”
Here, he was introduced to more lucrative trading options such as Super Circuits, Block Trading, and IPOs. Feeling reassured by the apparent professionalism of the group and the illusion of real-time trading activity, the victim began depositing funds into a trading account he was directed to on a platform called HSSSPMA, which he accessed using an app linked to his mobile number.
Over a span of weeks, he made regular investments, believing he was purchasing shares and participating in high-level trading operations under the HSBC brand.
By March 26, the victim’s virtual account reflected a total of Rs 9.91 crore, and he was told that he earned a profit of Rs 8.08 crore. When he requested to withdraw the amount, Sharma and others in the group informed him that before his request could be processed, he needed to pay an “Economic Service Fee” amounting to 18% of the profit (Rs 1.45 crore).
Unable to pay the entire amount upfront, he requested that the fee be deducted from his account balance. His request was allegedly forwarded to the “finance department,” but no further action was taken.
Desperate to access his money, on March 27, he initiated a withdrawal of Rs 90 lakh, followed by another attempt to withdraw Rs 9 crore. The app showed the transactions as “successful” or “pending,” but no money was ever credited to his IndusInd Bank account.
His repeated attempts to contact Priya Sharma and the group were either ignored or met with vague responses asking him to wait patiently. Eventually, the groups went silent, and his attempts to contact them failed, realising that he fell victim to a well-coordinated scam. The Maharashtra Cyber Cell registered an FIR and is working on tracing the IP addresses and financial trails left by the accused.