Professor loses lakhs in stock trading scam

Bhopal: A private university professor in Kokta, Bilkhiria, was allegedly defrauded of several lakh rupees in a cybercrime scam involving a fake stock market investment scheme promoted on social media, according to Bilkhiria police, which registered a case on Wednesday.Dilip Kumar, 36, a professor at a private university in Kokta, said he clicked a Facebook link in Nov 2025 promoting high returns from stock investments. After clicking, he was automatically added to a WhatsApp group where fraudsters claimed investors were earning big profits through stock trading. Dilip first sent Rs 10,000 via UPI. The next day, Rs 11,385 was credited. Encouraged, he later invested Rs 3 lakh more. The fraudsters then showed a fake balance of Rs 23 lakh. When he asked to withdraw the amount, the fraudsters said the money was "fixed" and required Rs 3.95 lakh as GST. This made him realise that he had been duped.