Udupi: A 75-year-old resident of Udupi fell victim to a cyber fraud and lost Rs 14,35,724 after being lured by fraudsters promising high returns through fake stock trading.According to police, the ordeal began on July 29, when complainant Ramesh Shetty received a link on social media. Upon clicking the link, he was assigned a ‘High Network Investore’ User ID to trade on their platform. Encouraged to start trading, Shetty initially invested Rs 40,000 and was shown a 5% profit return.Lured by the initial returns, Shetty made further deposits on Aug 18, transferring Rs 80,000 and Rs 50,000, and placed trades worth Rs 1,25,000 on the same day. Over time, the cyber fraudsters continuously urged him to deposit more money in multiple instalments.The fraud escalated on Sept 1, when Shetty received a message claiming that he had been allotted 3,400 shares of the ‘ESDS Software Solution Ltd’ IPO at Rs 272 per share, totalling Rs 9,24,800. Shetty informed the operators that he had never applied for the IPO and did not possess that amount of money, requesting them to cancel the allotment. However, the fraudsters refused and coerced him into making the payment. Under immense pressure, Shetty took loans to pay the required Rs 9,24,800.When Shetty subsequently attempted to withdraw his funds, the fraudsters blocked the transaction and demanded an additional Rs 5,10,724, claiming it was a mandatory 10% profit fee before allowing any withdrawal. Hoping to recover his money, Shetty paid the additional Rs 5,10,724.Following this, the accused ceased all communication, switching off their phones and stopping responses on WhatsApp. Realising he had been scammed out of Rs 14,35,724, Shetty lodged a police complaint.A case has been officially registered at Udupi Town police station under Section 66 of the Information Technology (IT) Act and Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). An investigation is under way.
