Kolkata: A 23-year-old Hooghly resident was allegedly cheated of Rs 11.3 lakh in an investment scam on social media and Telegram channels, police said on Friday. Avijit Pandit told cops the fraud began on Nov 9 last year, when he came across an Instagram advertisement promising returns in 45 minutes. Clicking on the link led him to a Telegram channel, where a person posing as an investment trader convinced Pandit to transfer Rs 50,000 on Nov 10 to an account. When the promised return failed to come through, the accused cited technical glitches.
The accused initially returned Rs 1 lakh before demanding further payments. After the final transfer, the accused deleted his Telegram account and stopped responding. tnn