Vadodara: A 60-year-old man from Makarpura was allegedly duped of Rs 1.33 crore by a gang of cybercriminals who lured him into a fake stock market investment scheme. Mahesh Vaswani has lodged a complaint against unidentified persons at the Cyber Crime police station.Vaswani told police that in Aug, while browsing Facebook, he came across an advertisement promoting investment in securities. After clicking on it, he was added to a WhatsApp group where a person claiming to hold a senior position in a private bank began advising members on stocks to buy.Vaswani said he followed the advice and invested in the suggested stocks through his stockbroking app, initially making good profits. The accused then told him to open an institutional account and asked him to download an app through a link shared with him.Vaswani filled out a form with his personal details, including his mobile number and income tax return details. The accused later sent him a fake certificate purportedly confirming that his registration had been completed. He was then asked to download another app and submit his details again, including his Aadhaar card and bank account information.Believing the scheme to be genuine, Vaswani transferred more than Rs 1.34 crore to the account/app in Aug and Sept. To gain his confidence, the accused allowed him to withdraw Rs 1.50 lakh.When Vaswani later tried to withdraw a larger amount, he was unable to do so and realised that he had been duped. He subsequently approached the police, who have registered a case and begun an investigation.
