HYDERABAD: A 63-year-old private employee was duped of Rs 1.47 crore in two separate online trading scams after joining WhatsApp groups through Facebook advertisements.
According to his complaint, the first incident occurred on June 2, when he came across an advertisement for “NJ Investment Group” on Facebook. After clicking the ad, he was added to a WhatsApp group, where two individuals convinced him to open a trading account with promises of 700% profit. He downloaded the NJ trading app and invested Rs 92.75 lakh.
The scammers showed him a fictitious profit of Rs 16.81 crore but did not allow any withdrawal. It was only after his family and friends intervened that he realised he had been duped.
In the second instance, during the second week of June, he clicked on another Facebook ad for “VIP Economic Wisdom Sharing” and was again added to a WhatsApp group.
This time, he was asked to download the UTI AMC trading app from the Play Store and invested Rs 54.25 lakh. The fraudsters later demanded an additional Rs 88 lakh to “add more shares,” and he realised it was another scam.
The victim stated that the WhatsApp groups are still active and that the fraudsters have threatened him with dire consequences if he fails to pay further. Cybercrime police have registered a case and have launched an investigation..