Kolkata: Fraudsters allegedly targeted two citizens through online impersonation schemes, collectively siphoning off over Rs 55 lakh.In the first case, a 48-year-old city resident fell prey to an elaborate stock trading scam orchestrated through social media platforms. The victim was initially lured via an Instagram advertisement into joining a WhatsApp investment group. Fraudsters posing as representatives—operating under the names Divya Iyer and N Sivaraman—promised extraordinary returns of up to 750% through “institutional stock” trading. To execute the fraud, they directed the victim to download a fake trading application named “EqrHNI” and submit sensitive KYC documents.To build trust, the syndicate initially credited a minor profit withdrawal of Rs 69,871 to the victim’s bank account. Following this initial success, the fraudsters deployed high-pressure tactics, coercing the victim into participating in tiered “negotiated trades” and pre-allotted IPO schemes. Between Sept and Oct, the victim made multiple fund transfers totalling Rs 43,31,129 across designated bank accounts. Suspicion arose when the app artificially inflated the victim’s IPO liabilities to Rs 1.1 crore and demanded an additional Rs 48 lakh. Upon contacting the genuine financial firm, the victim confirmed the application and identities were entirely fraudulent and subsequently reported the matter to the police.In a separate incident, a 76-year-old resident of Tollygunge was defrauded of Rs 11,85,200 in a fake house-rental scam. The fraud unfolded between Oct 17 and 18, when two individuals, identifying themselves as RS Shekhawat and Asish Kr. Pahari and posing as Army men, contacted the elderly victim regarding a residential property listed for rent online.Falsely claiming to be an Indian Army officer and his colleague, the duo offered to rent the property and induced the victim to share his UPI details under the guise of transferring an advance security deposit. Instead of depositing money, the fraudsters exploited the UPI link to execute a series of unauthorised debit transactions, draining Rs 11.85 lakh from the victim’s account into three separate private bank accounts.Cyber crime police officials have registered formal cases of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal conspiracy under the BNS for both incidents, launching financial trail investigations to trace the fraudulent accounts and apprehend the perpetrators.
