Mangaluru man duped of Rs 24.9 lakh in fake online share trading scheme

The victim was lured through a fraudulent app mimicking a stock platform, managing to withdraw just Rs 1,000 before losing nearly Rs 25 lakh; police have booked the accused under IT Act and BNS provisions.

Mangaluru: A man has allegedly lost Rs 24.9 lakh in an online share market scam.

In his complaint to the Dakshina Kannada CEN Police, C. Subrahmanya, a resident of Bantwal taluk, said he received a call from an unidentified person on July 20. The caller introduced him to stock market investments through the platform Fivepaisa.

Subrahmanya was then asked to download an application named Fivepaisamax via a link sent to him. He was told to invest a minimum of Rs 5,000 to open an account, but instead deposited Rs 40,000. Later, he was advised to invest further in the stock market.

He managed to withdraw only Rs 1,000 from his initial deposit. Over time, while continuing to invest, he transferred a total of Rs 24.9 lakh in multiple transactions to the fraudsters’ accounts. When he tried to withdraw the remaining amount, he was unable to do so and realised he had been cheated.

A case has been registered under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, and Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).