Pune: Four people collectively lost Rs 1.32 crore after cybercrooks lured them to share-trading for handsome returns between Jan and March.Separate complaints were registered with the Vishrambaug, Baner, Kalepadal and Talegaon Dabhade police on Thursday.Fraudsters contacted a retired resident (69) of Sadashiv Peth on a social media platform and offered good returns if the latter invested in stock market. They told him to download an application to monitor his portfolio.“The elderly man went on transferring money to bank accounts provided to him by the crooks. He gave away Rs 33.45 lakh between Feb and March. When he tried to withdraw, the crooks demanded more by citing different reasons,” an officer from the Vishrambaug police said.He said when he did not get his money back, he lodged an online complaint. After preliminary investigations, a case was registered with the Vishrambaug police, he said.Using the same modus operandi, crooks offered good returns to a 60-year-old Balewadi resident. They provided some bank accounts and told the victim transfer money for better returns. He transferred Rs 46.43 lakh between Jan and March. After realising that he was being duped, the elderly man stopped responding to the crooks and approached the police. A case was registered with the Baner police.A private finance firm manager (36) lost Rs 27 lakh to cybercrooks, who offered her good returns in the same manner. The crooks contacted her in Jan and added her to a group of investors on a mobile messaging app. “The crooks then shared a link with the woman and told her to download an app by using the link. The woman ended up transferring Rs 27 lakh to the different bank accounts,” an officer from the Kalepadal police said.A similar scenario was played for another Somatane-based man, an employee of a private company. Cybercrooks posed as officials from a private bank and added the victim to a group of investors on a mobile messaging application. They shared some bank accounts and the victim kept transferring money as and when instructed. He lost Rs 25.3 lakh between Jan and March. “The man on Thursday lodged a complaint with the Talegaon Dabhade police,” the officer said.
