A 40-year-old man has fallen prey to scammers in shares trading investment fraud and lost over Rs40 lakh in two months.

According to the police, the complainant is a resident of Dombivali and works in a private company in Airoli. On October 6, the complainant’s mobile number was added to a WhatsApp group on which information about buying, selling and profits generated on investment was being shared.

The complainant also showed interest in investing after which the scammers asked him to download a bogus trading app on October 10. Accordingly, between November 2 and December 3, the complainant ended up transferring Rs40.37 lakh in multiple online transactions in different bank accounts, on the instructions of the scammers.

The complainant could also see the profits generated on his investments on the trading app. However, when he tried to withdraw his earnings, his requests were denied. When the complainant confronted, the scammers, he was asked to pay 30% more on the profits he had earned, which the man refused.

Later, when the scammers began giving evasive replies he realised that he had been duped. He then approached the police and got an offence registered. In his police complaint, the complainant has details of contact numbers of the scammers, bogus trading app and transaction details.

A case has been registered by the Thane police under section 66D (cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act.