A Sharjah-based senior chemist has allegedly lost Rs 1.24 crore in a Mumbai investment scam after being drawn into a WhatsApp share-trading group, with North Region Cyber Police registering a cheating case and beginning an investigation. No arrests had been made when the case was reported.
The complaint was submitted by the chemist’s teenage son, while the complainant and his wife, who are of Indian origin, live and work in Sharjah. Their family lives in Mumbai, according to the report. The case has brought the growing use of messaging platforms to solicit investment payments under the scrutiny of the city’s cybercrime police.
The complainant was contacted on WhatsApp on August 20 by a woman identified as Ananya Sharma, who offered to help him invest in the share market and earn profits. She added him to a WhatsApp group called ‘Antara Growth’, which had 96 members. Messages from other members describing their supposed investment gains helped create the impression that the group was a functioning trading community.
Sharma allegedly told the complainant that she was a registered broker representing an evergreen fund. She sent him a link and asked him to provide personal information, including his passport and contact details. After completing the requested information, the complainant transferred money to bank accounts supplied by Sharma for investments.
Using the link provided to him, the complainant saw what appeared to be profits of Rs 6.19 crore in his trading account. When he attempted to withdraw the money, he was unable to do so. Sharma then allegedly told him that he would have to pay a five per cent fee before the withdrawal could be processed.
The complainant subsequently asked for the return of his original investment, reported as Rs 1.24 crore. His calls went unanswered, after which he realised that he had allegedly been defrauded. He then contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930.
North Region Cyber Police registered a case of cheating based on the complaint and are probing the transactions, the identities used by the alleged operators and the bank accounts to which the money was sent. The police investigation is continuing, and the report did not indicate that any suspects had been arrested at the time of publication.
