Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 25 September 2025
A resident of Lillypur, Haddo, Sri Vijaya Puram has lodged a formal complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station after being cheated of more than ₹49 lakh in a sophisticated investment fraud.
According to the FIR (No. 0043/2025) registered on 22 September 2025, the incident began on 14 July 2025, when the resident received a call from a woman identifying herself as Divya Rao, allegedly an Assistant at Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Limited, Mumbai [Update: Nomura Financial Advisory and Securities (India) Private Limited, through a letter dated October 10, 2025, informed Nicobar Times that the firm has repeatedly been a victim of impersonation, with individuals falsely claiming to be its employees. The company has lodged a cybercrime complaint regarding these incidents and clarified that any advice shared by such individuals has not been issued on behalf of Nomura Advisory. (Story Updated on 10th Nov 2025)] . She lured the complainant with promises of extraordinarily high returns — up to 1000% profit — on investments in stocks, IPOs, OTC securities, and mutual funds.
Trusting her claims, the complainant made an initial deposit of ₹10,000 on 14 July. Over time, he continued to invest as directed, eventually transferring a total of ₹49,19,000 into accounts specified by the fraudsters. The fake investment platform showed his balance growing, at one stage reflecting a return of nearly ₹19 crore.
However, when he attempted to withdraw the profits, Divya Rao informed him that he would need to deposit an additional 10% of the total profit — about ₹1.9 crore — to unlock the funds. When he refused and requested deduction from his accrued balance, his account was frozen, denying him access to both his investments and the displayed returns.
The FIR further mentions the involvement of another person identified as Prajakt Samant, believed to be the main orchestrator of the scam, possibly in collusion with Divya Rao. Several contact numbers linked to the accused have been listed in the FIR, including both Indian and foreign numbers.
The resident had earlier lodged an online complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal on 18 September 2025.
The Cyber Crime Police have registered the case under Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
