Status: Not ApprovedHEAD: 25_Cha_PT_Chandigarh woman duped of ten lakhs in online investment scam Byline: Pawan TiwariChandigarh woman duped of ten lakhs in online investment scam Times News Network Chandigarh The cyber cell of UT police booked unknown persons for allegedly duping a Chandigarh resident of Rs 10 lakh in an online investment scam. Police said they were trailing transactions to get clues of the accused. No arrest was made in the case so far.In her complaint to the police, a woman resident of Sector 22, Chandigarh, stated that she was added through Facebook to a WhatsApp group named StanChart Sec Zone G on December 14, 2025. She said several individuals in the group, claiming to be experts in the share market, IPOs and institutional investments, continuously shared screenshots of alleged profits and false investment success stories to influence and lure people.The complainant said the group administrator, Yalini Guha, allegedly introduced herself as the assistant of professor Gaurav Dua, who she claimed was the owner of a SEBI-registered company. She provided a SEBI registration number and purported registered office addresses in Mumbai. The complainant said Guha contacted her via WhatsApp and later assured her very high returns in stock market investments and persuaded her to invest.The complainant said the fraudster sent a SEBI Certificate of Registration via WhatsApp and provided registration details to gain trust, convincing her that they were legally authorised by SEBI to operate in the stock market.The victim said she was made to download a trading mobile application that looked exactly like an official SEBI application. She said she was initially coaxed into investing a small amount and false profits were shown in the app, which strengthened trust, and that a small incremental profit was credited to further create trust.From January 1.2026 to 8,2026, the complainant said she was induced and coerced into transferring a total amount of Rs 10 lakh from her savings account to several bank accounts provided by the accused under the pretext of processing fees, allotment charges and the next phase of investment.When the complainant asked for details regarding the total investment of Rs 10 lakh, the fraudsters started avoiding queries and eventually stopped responding. She said that upon demanding the return of the money, she was threatened and told that the funds had already been seized and that an additional Rs 40 lakh would have to be deposited to recover his invested amount, and that she was threatened with severe consequences if she demanded the money again.Later, she filed a complaint at the cyber police station in Sector 17 and provided all her transaction details. After verifying the facts, police registered a case against unknown persons and started a probe. MSID:: 128780077 413 |
