Kolkata: Cops in Kolkata and Bidhannagar have registered two cases of investment fraud, one of them involving the Telegram app, leading to losses of Rs 21 lakh and Rs 19.4 lakh respectively.
According to the complaint lodged with Kolkata Police, the cyber crooks approached the victim online and presented a financial scheme, which looked like a legitimate investment opportunity with assurances of high returns and safety of the funds. The fraudsters persuaded the victim to transfer Rs 21 lakh in multiple tranches to bank accounts provided by them. According to the complainant, after the transfers were made, the fraudsters furnished statements and even updates, indicating that the investment was growing. It was only when the victim failed to withdraw the money that the realisation dawned that the platform and intermediaries were part of a deception, police said.
A case was registered, and investigators began tracing the beneficiary accounts and transaction trail, including the digital channels used to contact the victim. Police said they were examining the communication records, payment details, and any linked accounts to identify the operators behind the fraud and to check if the same network targeted other residents, too.
In the second incident, the Bidhannagar Cybercrime Police Station registered a case on Jan 20 after a 56-year-old resident of Bangur Avenue alleged he was tricked into investing in a fraudulent online trading scheme after fraudsters contacted him on Telegram.
The complainant said he first transferred Rs 3 lakh on Sept 7 to an account at a private bank, in the name of a consultancy branch located in Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. He alleged he was then persuaded to send additional amounts on a profit-sharing pretext—Rs 1,63,557, Rs 4,13,709, and Rs 3,00,012, followed by Rs 5,63,850 on Sept 10 in instalments—to another account in the name of Fatehali Amir Khan from Pune. He said the total amount he "invested" was Rs 19,41,130.
The complainant alleged he was shown a trading account, which looked genuine, reflecting profits of Rs 1,76,60,018 and was asked to pay Rs 16,86,564 and then Rs 1,24,376 to access this profit. This request made him realise he had been duped and he lodged a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.