The Mumbai Cyber Police (North Division) have successfully arrested three individuals involved in a Rs 69-lakh share trading scam. The accused targeted the victim by luring him through a deceptive stock advisory link on Facebook, which eventually led to a WhatsApp group run by unknown fraudsters.
Sanjay Kishore Prajapati, a 37-year-old complainant, shared his experience of stumbling upon the fraudulent link while browsing Facebook. Intrigued by promises of expert trading advice, he clicked on the link and was soon added to a WhatsApp group where the fraudsters posed as stock market experts. Trusting their guidance, Prajapati ended up transferring a total of Rs 8.92 lakh across multiple accounts over time.
The police investigation uncovered a shocking detail: one of the accounts involved was fraudulently created in the name of a 77-year-old retired Navy officer. Using forged documents and a SIM card registered under a watchman’s name, the accused managed to route Rs 2.1 lakh through this account. Further investigation revealed that this particular account had been linked to 90 separate cyber fraud complaints reported on the National Cyber Crime Reporting (NCCR) portal.
The culprits have been identified as Sachin Sitaram Sawant, Umesh Dinesh Vishwakarma, and Vibham Ashok Mishra, with Sawant being the alleged mastermind behind the racket.
