Mangaluru: A 55-year-old woman was allegedly duped of Rs 10.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured her with promises of high returns through a fake private equity fund investment scheme.The complainant stated that on June 29, she came across a WhatsApp advertisement for an investment scheme called Private Equity Fund Investment Block Deal. After clicking the link, she was prompted to download an application. A person identifying himself as Hardik Doshi contacted her and claimed that the block-deal equity fund was registered with SEBI. He allegedly assured her of high returns on investment. The complainant was subsequently added to a WhatsApp group.Believing the claims, she transferred a total of Rs 10.5 lakh in multiple instalments to various bank accounts between June 29 and July 22. The fraudsters later pressured her to invest more money and demanded taxes and other charges to facilitate withdrawal of the invested amount. As she did not have additional funds, she waited, hoping the investment would eventually be returned.When she did not receive any money, she visited her bank on Aug 3 and made inquiries. It was then that she realised she had fallen victim to an online investment scam. A case has been registered at the CEN Crime Police Station.
