Mumbai man loses Rs 1.07 crore in trading scam; Here's how Indians lost Rs 1,750 cr in just four months

A 48-year-old man from Navi Mumbai's Kharghar township has allegedly been duped of Rs 1.07 crore after being lured into a share trading scam by fraudsters. Police registered a case on Sunday against 15 individuals, including the owners of an app and a website, as part of an ongoing investigation.

Senior Inspector Gajanan Kadam of the Navi Mumbai cyber police said the fraudsters contacted the victim multiple times between February 13 and May 5, promising lucrative returns from share trading. They persuaded him to deposit Rs 1,07,09,000 in various bank accounts. When the victim sought returns and a refund of his investment, the fraudsters failed to respond, prompting him to file a complaint with the cyber police.

The case has been registered under sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.


Rising Trend in Cybercrime
The incident in Navi Mumbai is part of a broader trend of increasing online trading scams in India. Most victims are targeted through online investment fraud, gaming apps, algorithm manipulations, illegal lending apps, sextortion, and OTP forwards.

According to the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre (I4C), over 1 lakh investment scam cases were reported in 2023. In the first four months of 2024, Indians lost Rs 1.2 billion in 4,599 cases of digital arrests as reported by ET earlier. Trading scams accounted for 20,043 cases, resulting in losses of Rs 14.2 billion during the same period.

Similarly, Rs 2.22 billion was lost in 62,687 complaints of investment scams, and dating apps caused a loss of Rs 132.3 million in 1,725 complaints, states the I4C data. The total amount lost to cyber goons by Indians between January to April 2024 stood at Rs 17.6 billion.


Scammers' Methods
Fraudsters often use call spoofing to make their phone numbers appear legitimate, posing as officials from agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), National Investigation Agency (NIA), Directorate of Enforcement (ED), and Reserve Bank of India (RBI). They exploit these identities to gain victims' trust and manipulate them into transferring funds.

Surge in Complaints
I4C data shows a substantial rise in cybercrime complaints, with more than 7,000 complaints registered daily. Up to May 2024, a total of 7,40,957 complaints were lodged. The number of digital fraud complaints has increased dramatically over the past few years, from 26,049 in 2019 to 15,56,215 in 2023. This marks a 113.7% increase from 2021 to 2022 and a 60.9% rise from 2022 to 2023.

Key Fraud Locations
Rajesh Kumar, CEO of I4C, noted that many cyber fraudsters targeting India operate from key locations in Southeast Asia, including Pursat, Koh Kong, Sihanoukville, Kandal, Bavet, and Poipet in Cambodia; Thailand; and Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko in Myanmar.

Government Measures
To combat cyber scams, the I4C has frozen nearly 3.25 lakh mule bank accounts and blocked 5.3 lakh SIM cards over the past four months. Additionally, 3,401 social media accounts, including WhatsApp groups, have been deactivated to disrupt the operations of cybercriminals.