Representative image of cyber scam.
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Mangaluru: Over a series of events, a man lost Rs 1,12,48,240 in a trading investment scam.
In a complaint, the victim stated that on June 28, he received a friend request from a woman named Leena Jose on a dating app, which he accepted.
The two began chatting via Telegram, where Jose convinced the complainant to invest in Admiral Market Forex Trading. The complainant then downloaded a fake app called Wavegptexa and logged in.
On July 3, he transferred Rs 50,000 through NEFT from the Bank of Maharashtra. Soon after, he was persuaded to invest more to gain higher profits, which led him to transfer Rs 10 lakh to various bank accounts provided by the accused between July 3 and July 23.
The app showed a profit of Rs 80,00,000, but when the complainant attempted to withdraw the money, customer service demanded a 30 per cent tax payment.
This led to the transfer of Rs 19,26,560 to several accounts. Later, he was asked to pay a 10 per cent transaction charge to convert dollars into Indian rupees, resulting in an additional Rs 7,36,880 being transferred.
When the complainant tried to withdraw Rs 50,00,000, he was told that the amount was being held by the app’s risk control department and that a 50 per cent deposit was required. Following this, the complainant transferred Rs 26,84,800.
Further attempts to withdraw were met with more demands—this time, to become a VIP client and improve his credit score by depositing additional funds.
Between July 3 and September 23, the complainant transferred further amounts from ICICI and Union Bank accounts to various unknown accounts.
When pressured to invest even more, he grew suspicious, consulted friends, and realized he had been defrauded.
The complaint alleges that unknown individuals, under the guise of an online company called Admiral Market Forex Trading, defrauded him of Rs 1,12,48,240. A case has been registered at the CEN police station.