Bengaluru: Lured by the promise of high returns every day, a 65-year-old doctor followed the instructions of some cybercrooks and lost close to Rs 1.9 crore recently. He realised the folly only when the fraudsters claimed that Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) blocked his account and asked him to pay Rs 10 lakh more to allow him to withdraw the money.According to the complaint filed by Dr Richard (name changed), a resident of Banasawadi, with the East CEN Crime police station on May 24, the fraud occurred between April 4 and May 19. The fraudsters contacted him via WhatsApp from 9648745586 in April, claiming they were from ‘Upstox Share Marketing Company’. Claiming they’re dealing with share market trading, they promised profits every day. The sender introduced herself as Divyangana Thorat and when Richard told them he didn’t have much knowledge of trading, she offered guidance. Soon, he was added to a WhatsApp group with hundreds of members. The group had numbers 9648745586, 8452082403, and 7381370290 as admins.They claimed the company was based in Mumbai and provided the links support@upstox.icu. He was also communicated with and guided by a person, Kapil Jaikalyani, with mobile numbers 8290620730 and 7304738609. After providing online instructions, Richard was asked to open an account using the links and participate in stock brokerage through an app. They also provided the customer care number 7737824947 to be contacted whenever he needed help.He was then added to another WhatsApp group named ‘MY LOVE-95′. A person named Easwaran sent him messages about the investments to be made in trading. The members of the group started posting messages, including screenshots of their investments and the amounts credited to their accounts. Richard was asked to register for an institutional account, and invest through different bank accounts. He tested with small investments and made profit. Thereafter, he started transferring huge amounts to the different bank accounts provided by them.Every time he transferred money, the gang showed the total profit earned by him in the balance sheet of a fake portal. After investing about Rs 1.3 crore in 12 different transactions, Richard wanted to withdraw the funds, but he was not able to. When he contacted them to know the reason, he was asked to pay a commission of Rs 32 lakh, and only then could he withdraw money. Richard followed their instructions, and even after transferring the money, he was not able to withdraw. The fraudsters then asked him to pay the income tax of Rs 26.5 lakh, and he obliged. After paying all the dues claimed by the fraudsters, he tried withdrawing, but in vain. They insisted he pay Rs 35 lakh more, citing SEBI froze his account and he had to pay money to unfreeze it.A worried Richard bargained and agreed to pay Rs 25 lakh. When he transferred the money, the fraudsters told him that SEBI did not accept Rs 25 lakh and demanded the remaining Rs 10 lakh. On complaining about it, the fraudsters threatened him with legal action.A case has been registered under the Information Technology Act and BNS section 318 (cheating). Measures are being taken to freeze the bank accounts of the cybercrooks.“We have been creating awareness through social media and public meetings about different types of frauds, including the trending trading scam. But people still fall prey to it to make quick money,” a senior officer said.