A 72-year-old retired bank manager from Hadapsar allegedly lost Rs39.74 lakh in a Pune online share trading fraud after fraudsters contacted him through a social media advertisement, moved him into a messaging group and directed him to transfer money to multiple bank accounts. He lodged a complaint with Kalepadal police after the trading application blocked his attempt to withdraw the profits displayed on it.
According to the FIR, the retired bank manager regularly traded shares using his and his wife’s demat accounts. In July, he came across an advertisement on social media promising high returns from online share trading. After clicking on it, his phone number was added to a group on a messaging application.
Members of the group allegedly discussed the high returns they had earned and praised the group administrator for providing investment tips. The complainant then contacted the administrator and expressed interest in trading shares, according to the police account cited in the FIR.
An officer said the administrator advised the complainant to invest in high-value shares instead of lower-value ones and asked him to download a mobile application. The suspects also provided several bank account numbers and instructed him to transfer money to those accounts, promising that shares would be purchased on his behalf.
The retired bank manager transferred Rs39.74 lakh to the accounts over a period of two months between July and September. The application allegedly showed that his investment had generated profits of Rs2.53 crore. When he decided to sell the shares and withdraw the money, however, the suspects did not permit the transaction.
The inability to realise the displayed profits led the complainant to conclude that he had been cheated, following which he approached the police. The case highlights how fraudulent trading operations can combine targeted social media advertising, group-based persuasion, fake digital interfaces and direct bank transfers to create the appearance of a functioning investment platform.
The reported sequence also involved access to the complainant’s existing familiarity with share trading. Rather than presenting the victim with an unfamiliar financial product, the suspects allegedly used trading terminology, demat accounts and an application showing large returns to make the transactions appear legitimate.
The complaint is now with Kalepadal police, who will examine the bank accounts to which the money was transferred, the messaging group, the application used in the alleged fraud and the identities of the persons who contacted the complainant. The reported police inquiry will determine how the funds moved after the transfers and whether other victims were connected to the same operation.
