Pune: A software engineer (25) from Deccan lost over Rs 20 lakh to two online share-trading frauds between June last year and Feb.The techie is an employee of a prominent software company. The Deccan Gymkhana police have registered a case pertaining to both the frauds.An officer from the Deccan Gymkhana police said that in June last year, the techie found an advertisement for a Rajkot-based financial firm on a social media platform.He checked the firm’s reviews and contacted the number in the advertisement. A woman received his call and assured him of good profit on his investments. The techie transferred Rs 3 lakh between June and July last year to the bank account of the firm in Gujarat.“The firm had been providing some returns till Nov last year, but later stopped. When the techie contacted the firm’s owner, the owner told him that they would return the invested amount by March 2026, but it never happened,” the officer said.While he was dealing with the Rajkot-based firm, the officer said, the techie found another advertisement for a stock market investment firm around the same time. He again contacted their the number in the advertisement, and another woman received the call. She claimed to be the owner of the firm and assured him good returns.In Aug last year, the techie invested a small amount with the firm. Within a month, a profit of Rs 22,500 was transferred to his bank account. “After that, the techie went on investing the amounts as and when he was told. He transferred Rs 18.71 lakh to a bank account provided to him till Feb,” he said.The officer said the victim realised he had been duped when he did not receive any profit and the company stopped responding to calls. After this case, he approached the police and lodged a complaint. “Investigations so far revealed that the techie’s money was transferred to a public sector bank’s account at Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu,” the officer said.
