Tarun Karthick
Sri Vijaya Puram, 29 August 2025
A woman from Diglipur has reported a major case of online financial fraud, losing ₹8.48 lakh after falling prey to a fake stock market investment scheme run through a WhatsApp group.
As per the FIR lodged at the Cyber Crime Police Station, the incident began on March 6, 2025, when the Diglipur woman joined a WhatsApp group named “ICICI Securities Group Y4.” The group claimed to provide stock market investment guidance. She was instructed to open an ICICI All-in-One trading account and download the ICDirect application. After completing KYC, she was advised to deposit money for trading under the supervision of an “investment advisor.”
Initially, she did not invest. However, one Ms. Vinita Pathodia, posing as an assistant in the group, persistently encouraged her. Other members in the group also shared screenshots of profits, further convincing her. Before making her first deposit, she personally contacted 4–5 group members, all of whom replied positively and urged her to invest.
On April 10, 2025, she made her first deposit of ₹40,000. She was allotted fake shares, including IFGL Refractories Limited, which showed an immediate “profit” of ₹51,380. Believing the scheme to be genuine, she gradually invested a total of ₹8,48,000.
According to the fake ICICI trading portal shown to her, her portfolio reflected a massive value of ₹1.45 crore. But when she tried to withdraw ₹8 lakh, she was told her account had “abnormal activity” and that she would need to deposit an additional ₹14 lakh to enable withdrawals.
Realizing she had been duped, the victim filed a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal before formally approaching the police. She also provided six mobile numbers used by the fraudsters.
Police have registered a case under sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
