Maha: Woman duped of more than ₹10 lakh in online fraud

A 57-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Thane district was allegedly cheated of more than ₹10 lakh by man who lured her into investing in foreign currency trading.

Woman duped of more than ₹10 lakh in online fraud. (Pixabay)

A 57-year-old woman from Maharashtra's Thane district was allegedly cheated of more than ₹10 lakh by man who lured her into investing in foreign currency trading, police said on Friday. Based on a complaint, the police on Wednesday registered an offence under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, an official from Ambernath police station said. 

According to the victim, she received a message about international currency trading on WhatsApp in July 2021, and the accused who claimed to be a manager of an investment company got in touch with her, he said. The accused promised her good returns in international currency trading, following which she invested ₹10.49 lakh between July and November 2021, the official said. 

The victim was provided with an app of the company, where she could see her investment in dollars and could withdraw small amounts. However, after some time she stopped getting money, he said. 

The woman soon realised that she had been cheated after the accused failed to respond to her messages and found out that the company, which he had claimed to work for, didn't exist, the official said.