Pune Pharmacist Duped of Rs 14 Lakh in Binary Trading Scam Over Fake Rs 68 Lakh Profits

The pharmacist transferred money into multiple bank accounts provided by the fraudsters between October and November last year. After realising that he had been defrauded, he approached the Pimpri Chinchwad cyber police and lodged a complaint. Following a preliminary investigation, the police recently registered a case with the Chinchwad police.

Binary trading is a form of financial betting in which participants predict whether the price of an asset will rise or fall within a predetermined period. Depending on whether the prediction is correct, the participant may either win or lose the entire amount placed on the trade.

According to a Chinchwad police officer, the pharmacist came across a channel on a video-sharing website in October last year. The channel had around 2.5 lakh followers and promoted binary trading as an investment opportunity. It allegedly claimed that several investors had been making profits through the platform for the previous five years.

Believing the claims, the pharmacist joined a group on a mobile messaging application and began putting money into the trading scheme. The fraudsters subsequently provided him with different bank account details into which he was asked to transfer funds.

Over a period of approximately one month, the pharmacist transferred a total of ₹14 lakh to the bank accounts specified by the alleged fraudsters. While using the application, he could see figures indicating that his investment had generated a profit of approximately ₹68 lakh.

Believing that he had made substantial gains, the pharmacist attempted to withdraw ₹25 lakh from his purported trading account. However, when he tried to access the money, he was informed that his trading account had allegedly been blocked.

The victim was subsequently unable to withdraw either the supposed profits or his original investment and ultimately lost the entire ₹14 lakh that he had transferred.

According to a recent media report in the Times of India, the cyber fraud began after the pharmacist encountered the online channel promoting binary trading and was subsequently persuaded to join a messaging-app group where he invested money based on promises of high returns.

The Chinchwad police have registered the case following the preliminary inquiry and are investigating the alleged cyber fraud, including the bank accounts used to receive the pharmacist's money and the individuals behind the investment scheme.