Navi Mumbai businessman duped of Rs 1.08 crore in share investment scam

Thane: A 75-year-old businessman from Navi Mumbai has fallen victim to an online investment scam and lost Rs 1.08 crore, police said on Sunday.

The businessman, who lives in Vashi, came across an advertisement on Facebook last month that promised high returns through share market investments. After clicking on the link, he was added to a WhatsApp group and guided to set up a trading account on what later turned out to be fraudulent websites.

Between December 5, 2025 and January 6 this year, he transferred Rs 1.08 crore in 18 separate transactions to different bank accounts, a cyber police official said.

To convince him that the investment was genuine, the fraudsters showed his profits increasing to more than Rs 4 crore on the fake trading platform. However, when he tried to withdraw the money, he was asked to pay additional amounts as taxes and IPO subscription charges.

Realising he had been cheated, the businessman filed a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

The Navi Mumbai Cyber Police registered an FIR on January 29 against two unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act. An investigation is underway.

(with inputs from agencies)