SURAT: An Ayurvedic doctor was duped of Rs 8.04 crore by Instagram users promising high returns in stock investments. The 32-year-old doctor was asked to download an app and transfer money to buy shares. The fraudsters offered her double the return on her investment and gave her hints on the potential upper limits of stocks. Surat Cyber Crime Police has registered a case of cheating and conspiracy under the Intellectual Property Act and Information Technology Act against unidentified persons. According to details, Niranka Patil, who studies at OH Nazar Ayurvedic University, Surat, came across an advertisement for high returns in stock investments while browsing Instagram accounts. On clicking the advertisement, she was automatically added to a Whatsapp group titled ‘G6 (Of A Dream) Take Off – Apollo Private Equity Trading Company’. She started receiving messages about the stock market in the group and followed it for a month. When she expressed her willingness to join the group, a form was sent to her mobile phone to fill up. On April 9, one of the group members, calling himself Sachi Arora, sent Patil a link and asked her to download the application. Once downloaded, her wallet was opened in the app. She was added to another WhatsApp group, G813 customer service window. Following the instructions, Patil transferred Rs 15 lakh to the given bank account between April 25 and 29. With the money, the scammers purchased various stocks for her, taking her wallet balance to Rs 25 lakh. As she was in financial difficulty, the scammers even allowed her to withdraw Rs 13 lakh on May 2. On May 7, the scammers advised Patil to purchase 1,000 shares of Winsol. When she agreed, the scammers told her to deposit 18,000 shares in her wallet instead of 1,000 shares and pay the negative balance of Rs 1,278,000 in her wallet. When she refused to pay, the scammers threatened her with legal action for breaching the contract and told her that she could not invest in the market in future. Out of fear, Patil transferred Rs 7,59,000 to them in various transactions between May 10 and 20. When the money ran out, she offered the subsidy in her wallet. But instead of giving the subsidy, the fraudsters demanded the remaining Rs 4 lakh plus 30% GST. Realising that she had been duped, Patil called the cyber helpline at 19:30 and lodged a complaint on May 20. Based on the complaint, a formal FIR was registered by the Surat Cyber Crime Police on June 27.
