Surat: A 55-year-old diaper trader from Athwalines was cheated of Rs 22 lakh in a cyberfraud in which the accused lured him with promises of high returns from pre-IPO investments.According to the complaint filed with Athwalines police, the accused contacted the victim through social media and persuaded him to invest in a pre-IPO (Initial Public Offering) scheme, promising huge profits. After transferring money in phases, the victim was shown that his investment portfolio was worth Rs 2.13 crore on a mobile application but was not allowed to withdraw the funds. The victim has been running a diaper business in Surat for the past few years. In Oct 2025, he was added to a certain WhatsApp group by an unknown person. The group, which had around 200 members, was headed by a person identifying himself as the supervisor. As group with a similar name existed in Surat, the victim believed it to be genuine. The group admin shared a link, which led the victim to download an application from the Google Play Store. The app offered features such as IPO investments, trading advice, loans, deposits and withdrawals. The accused instructed the victim through the WhatsApp group to transfer money via QR codes for investment in a pre-IPO bid. After he transferred Rs 22 lakh in tranches, he was also offered a loan through the app. The victim applied for a Rs 48 lakh loan, after which the accused ‘sanctioned’ a Rs 32 lakh loan on Dec 2, 2025. However, the loan amount was never credited to his bank account. Meanwhile, the app showed that his investment portfolio had grown to Rs 2.13 crore. When the victim tried to withdraw funds on Dec 15, the accused told him that withdrawals would be allowed only after repaying the Rs 32 lakh loan. Realizing that he had not received any loan and was being cheated, the victim tried contacting the accused, but they stopped responding. He then approached Athwalines police and lodged a complaint.
