Retired IT engineer cheated of Rs4.43 crore by online fraudsters in Pune

Pune: A 46-year-old retired techie from Pimple Saudagar on Friday lodged a complaint with the Pimpri Chinchwad Cyber Police, claiming that online fraudsters cheated him of Rs4.43 crore by promising lucrative returns on investments in online share trading.According to the police, the fraud took place between May 7 and June 1 this year. Senior inspector Ravikiran Nale of Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police said, “The techie was earlier based in a foreign country and used to work as a software engineer. After retirement, he moved to Pune in Oct 2025 and has not been working since then.”The police said the techie had been investing in the stock market for the past 15 years. On March 29, he came across an investment advertisement on a messaging app. The advertisement contained information about investment opportunities and claimed high profits earned by investors. It also urged people to join a group on another messaging platform. Accordingly, the techie joined the group in March. The group admin regularly shared stock market information, including guidance on which shares to buy and when to sell them. The admin frequently posted details of shares of various companies that were expected to generate high returns. The police said other members of the group often posted screenshots showing profits ranging from 25% to 75%, thereby creating confidence among investors. Based on their advice, the techie purchased shares through another trading app that he was already using and initially earned good profits.Nale said, “Subsequently, the fraudsters — using 10 different phone numbers — instructed him to open an account on their share-trading app. They also provided details of 10 different bank accounts into which he was asked to transfer money for investments. Using their app, the techie then invested a collective sum of Rs4.43 crore and his app showed that the shares have generated a profit, with the total value reaching Rs26.64 crore as on June 1. However, when the techie attempted to withdraw the amount, the group admin demanded a service charge of 5%. The service fee was calculated at Rs1.33 crore. Realising that he had been cheated, the techie approached the cyber police and lodged a complaint.”