Elderly woman in Kerala loses ₹87L to online trading scam
A 62-year-old woman from Kochulloor, Thiruvananthapuram, has been duped in an online trading scam, losing a whopping ₹87 lakh. The senior citizen, who lives alone and had prior trading experience, was lured by the fraudsters' promise of huge returns. The scammers approached her during her retirement years when she was looking for new investment opportunities.
Scammers' market knowledge lured victim into trap
The victim was impressed with the fraudsters' in-depth knowledge of the stock market, and she initially invested a small amount. She received timely returns on the initial investment, which further instilled trust in the fraudulent scheme. However, when she invested a bigger amount, her profits were withheld and she was coerced into investing more to release them.
Fake website used to show non-existent profits
The scammers used a fake website to convince the victim of her non-existent profits. "Each time I invested money, they asked me to invest more, and at a particular stage, I sensed trouble," the victim said. Between September 20 and October 22, she transferred funds into four different bank accounts. The victim delayed filing the complaint for several more days, which allowed the fraudsters to fully withdraw the money, police reported.
Investigation underway
The city cyber police have now launched an investigation in this case. They have registered charges under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita 318 (4) for criminal breach of trust and 319 (2) for cheating by personation, and under section 66 (D) of Information Technology Act-2008.
