Vadodara: A senior railway engineer from Dabhoi was allegedly duped of Rs 12.29 lakh by cyberfraudsters who lured him into an online investment scheme and siphoned off money from him through multiple transactions.According to the complaint lodged by Dilip Shinora at the Cybercrime (Rural) police station, he received a Facebook friend request in July from an account bearing the name Geeta Thakur. The woman began chatting with him regularly and later shared a link, claiming that she regularly invested through a US-based company.After Shinora expressed interest in the investment opportunity, the accused asked him to provide personal details. She told him that he could earn substantial profits by taking orders through the platform and instructed him to open a seller’s account.Trusting the scheme, Shinora transferred a total of Rs 12.29 lakh in several instalments to bank accounts provided by the accused.His suspicions were raised when he attempted to withdraw part of his investment. He received only Rs 6,700 in his bank account, while subsequent withdrawal requests were rejected. The fraudsters then asked him to deposit more money before he could withdraw his funds.When Shinora contacted the woman again, the person who answered the call allegedly told him that the phone number had been hacked.Realising he had fallen victim to cyberfraud, Shinora approached Cybercrime police and lodged a complaint. Police said an investigation is underway to trace the accused.
