Navi Mumbai: A 68-year-old senior citizen from Nerul lost Rs 1.10 crore to a cyber fraud gang that promised high returns on stock investments through a fake app posing as ‘Sharekhan’. The Navi Mumbai Cyber Police have registered a case under fraud and IT Act sections and launched an investigation to track the culprits.

According to police, the victim, Salim Palekar, was added to a WhatsApp group named Sharekhan Official Networking Community on January 10, this year. The group members, pretending to be successful investors, discussed profitable stock market investments. Trusting Sharekhan’s reputed name, Palekar decided to invest.

The fraudsters then sent him a link to download a fake app, Sharekhan Edge, and provided investment advice, mainly focusing on Initial Public Offerings (IPOs). After cross-checking the stock recommendations with the financial newspapers and finding them identical, Palekar believed the app was legitimate.

Between January 17 and February 20, he transferred Rs 1.10 crore to various bank accounts provided by the scammers. His account on the fake app then displayed a profit of Rs 2.80 crore.

Later, the scammers demanded an additional Rs 50.82 lakh, claiming he needed to invest more before withdrawing his profits. Unable to arrange the money, Palekar became suspicious and contacted Sharekhan’s official helpline. He was informed that the bank accounts he had transferred money to were not associated with Sharekhan and that the contact person, Manoj Joshi, was not their employee.

Realising the fraud, Palekar reported the incident on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and later filed a complaint at the Cyber Police Station. Authorities have launched a search for the unidentified cyber gang.

“Trading should always be done through a right channel and no whatsapp group should be believed. We have registered the case and are investigating it further,” a police officer from Cyber police station said.