Mumbai: Rs 3.70 crore in bank accounts of fraudsters frozen

The fraudsters had contacted the victim on Instagram and had lured the victim to invest in share market. Representation Pic

Timely action by the Mumbai police crime branch has stopped fraudsters from making away with Rs 3.70 crore, a major part of the money that had been fleeced from a victim on the pretext of investment. This was done within 48 hours of the crime being reported to the police. The victim had approached the Mumbai police crime branch through the cyber crime helpline number 1930.

According to the police, the victim had reported that the fraudsters had contacted the victim on Instagram and had lured the victim to invest in share market, "The victim was lured as the fraudsters told her that she would get double the amount that she invested. On investing the money, the app given by the fraudster to track the investment showed the money had indeed doubled. However she was unable to withdraw the amount and realized that she had been duped to Rs 4.56 crore," said deputy commissioner of police Dr D S Swamy. During the investigation it was revealed that the amount was transferred to a bank and hence Rs 3.70 crore lying in various banks were frozen with the help of the police.

The 1930 helpline number has been started to report cyber fraud and help the victims to get back their money. This process starts with the freezing of the money that the victim had lost to cheating. In the year 2023, the prompt action by the police resulted in freezing of Rs 26.48 crore related to cyber fraud frozen from various bank accounts. "Our main aim now is to find the accused and we have contacted the social media company to block their accounts," said DCP Swamy.