Cybercriminals dupe Jodhpur neurosurgeon of Rs 62.8 lakh promising high returns in stock market investment
Jaipur: A neurosurgeon from Jodhpur lost Rs 62.8 lakh to cyber criminals who lured him with promises of high returns on stock market investments, the police said.
The fraudsters managed to siphon off the amount within just one-and-a-half days.
Realising he had been scammed, the doctor filed an FIR at Bhagat Ki Kothi police station.
According to Bhagat Ki Kothi police station in-charge Rajiv Bhadu, the victim, Tejpal Fidoda, the son of Amar Singh and a resident of Krishna Nagar, received a link on January 3 that invited him to join an app called SCIATOP and a WhatsApp investment group.
Upon clicking the link, he became a member of the group and installed the app.
The group had five administrators, with two key contacts using mobile numbers 9973339746 and 7898103479, while three others were associated with 7357070457, 8624901375, and 7304417998.
The doctor frequently interacted with two individuals named Niharika Tiwari and Saurabh Jain, who claimed to provide expert investment advice.
They created a private wealth group for him, offering guidance on various investment opportunities.
The scammers convinced Fidoda to transfer money into an institutional account, promising substantial returns within four months.
They discouraged him from trading through his personal demat account and instead set up an institutional trading account on his mobile via the SCIATOP app.
The fraudsters falsely claimed to be affiliated with the Standard Chartered Wealth Fund and encouraged him to invest in OTC, IPOs, and institutional trading.
Under this pretence, they systematically withdrew funds from the doctor’s account.
After transferring the funds, the fraudsters falsely informed the doctor that his money had been frozen and pressured him to deposit more money to release the funds.
At this point, Fidoda realised he had fallen victim to a scam.
Upon receiving the complaint, Bhagat Ki Kothi police launched an investigation.
Preliminary findings revealed that the scammers systematically gained the doctor’s trust through WhatsApp communication and fraudulent trading claims.
Authorities are now tracking the involved accounts and mobile numbers to identify and apprehend the culprits, the police said.