Pune: Cybercrooks lured a tax consultant (41) from Wagholi in share-trading and cheated him out of Rs 53.3 lakh between April and Oct 2025.According to the Pune Cyber police, the victim initially waited until Jan hoping to recover his money. However, the fraudsters not only prevented him from selling the shares, but also continued to demand additional funds.He eventually approached the Pune Cyber Police and lodged a complaint. Following a preliminary inquiry, the police registered a case of cheating against unidentified people on Saturday.According to the police, “The tax consultant’s cellphone number had been added to a group on a messaging application, where members frequently discussed substantial profits from online share-trading. Many participants expressed gratitude to the group admin for providing profitable trading tips. The victim was convinced.”“He subsequently contacted the group admin. The group admin then sent him a link to a cellphone application for trading shares. The tax consultant downloaded the application and started investing with smaller sums. He did not see any significant returns. Later, the group admin persuaded him to invest in high-value shares and share five bank accounts to assist him in executing the trades,” the police said.“The victim transferred a total of Rs 53.3 lakh. Although the application displayed profits exceeding Rs 1.2 crore, he was unable to withdraw or sell the shares.”
