MUMBAI: A 58-year-old woman from Santacruz East, who had retired from a leading multinational bank, was cheated to the tune of ₹4.6 crore by cyber fraudsters posing as executives of a wealth management company. The police said they befriended her in June via WhatsApp and phone calls, promising handsome returns.
₹4.6 crore to online investment fraud” title=”Retired banker from Kalina loses ₹4.6 crore to online investment fraud” />The complainant retired as a manager from the bank and lives with her husband in Kalina, Santacruz East, where the two survive on pensions. According to the police, one of the accused sent her a WhatsApp message on June 28, 2025, claiming to be the personal assistant of the founder of a leading wealth management firm in the city. The accused offered to facilitate her stock market investments and asked her to install a mobile application, then join a WhatsApp group.
After seeing the 103-strong group chat flooding with screenshots and messages claiming to have profited from the tips given by the admins, the complainant was convinced. “After analysing and seeing the profits, the complainant began to ‘invest’ from June 30 onwards,” said the officer. He added that every time she transferred money to the accused, the exact amount was reflected on the mobile application, so she did not suspect anything amiss. Spreading around 18 transactions from June 30 to July 22, the complainant sent around ₹4.6 crore under the impression that she was investing in stock markets and IPOs through a genuine wealth management firm.
Her balance displayed on the application was ₹27 crore on 23 July, when she decided to withdraw money, and that is when her suspicions began, as she was not able to. When she put in a request for withdrawal on the app, another person called her, persuading her to purchase 15% more shares to qualify for withdrawal. The complainant then visited the office of the firm only to realise those who called her were not even a part of it. Realising she had been cheated, she approached the Western Region Cyber police station.
“We have registered the offence on Thursday under sections 340 (forged documents and electronic records), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.), 336 (forgery), 319 (cheating by personation) and 318 (cheating) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and under various sections of the Information Technology Act,” said the police officer.