Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 13 January 2024
A 49-year-old resident of Nayagaon has lodged a formal complaint with the Cyber Cell, CID Unit, Port Blair, after becoming a victim of an online financial scam amounting to over Rs. 17 lakh.
The victim, in his written complaint, narrated the sequence of events that unfolded on December 7, 2023. While browsing Facebook, he encountered a seemingly innocuous link. Upon clicking the link, he found himself added to a WhatsApp group named “Blackrock,” purportedly created for trading and investment purposes.
Intrigued by the promising returns discussed within the group, the victim requested the group admin to open a trading account on his behalf. Subsequently, following the admin’s instructions, he made an initial deposit of Rs. 1,50,000 via various UPI transactions. Encouraged by the apparent profits, he continued to invest, transferring an additional Rs. 16,19,000 in multiple transactions between December 20 and December 27, 2023.
The complaint details the transactions, including UPI IDs, amounts, and bank references, which were used for the deposits. However, when the victim attempted to withdraw his profits, he was asked to transfer more funds as a dividend or profit-sharing before being allowed to access his earnings. Despite his requests to deduct the profit-sharing from his account, the scammers insisted on the additional payment, leading to the freezing of his trading account.
Realising he had fallen victim to a fraudulent scheme, the victim promptly filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell, CID Unit, Port Blair.