₹5.2 crore gone in a click: Bengaluru man conned by online fraudsters via WhatsApp

IN a series of rampant online stock investment frauds in India that have led thousands to lose lakhs in the past few months, a Bengaluru businessman was tricked into a loss of whopping ₹5.2 crore in a click.

The 52-year-old Jayanagar business, new to stock market trading, is a victim of sophisticated cybercrime.

Promised "high-return investments", the businessman was tricked into downloading a fraudulent mobile application on WhatsApp by unknown individuals.

According to a Times of India (TOI) report, the victim received a WhatsApp message on March 11 promising lucrative returns, along with a link. The link directed him to download an app from "bys-app.com".

He had initially ignored the message, the report said. He was subsequently added to a WhatsApp group named "Y-5 Ever Core Financial Leader". The WhatsApp group had nearly 160 members.

However, he still continued to ignore the advances.

The fraudsters, on seeing on response from him, started spamming him with calls from unknown numbers. They were persistently urging him to click on the click to download the app to gain returns from stock market.

The businessman finally gave in hesitantly thinking of it to be a legitimate opportunity.

On downloading the app, the businessman was presented with multiple investment opportunities along with different bank accounts for transferring money to "invest in stock market".

The accounts, however, were controlled by the scammers in a ploy to steal money in the name of "investing" them.

By April 2, the victim had fallen prey to the fraudster's false assurances and transferred ₹5.2 crores into the bogus accounts.

He first realized that it was all a scam when he attempted to withdraw the profits or even a part of his principal investment but was refused.

He then filed an FIR under the IT Act. The report said that the authorities are actively investigating the matter.