Pharma Employee Duped of Rs 1.45 Cr in Facebook Ad Linked Scam
New Delhi: A pharmaceutical company employee in Haridwar was defrauded of Rs 1.45 crore in an elaborate online investment scam after being lured through a Facebook advertisement promising high returns, where fraudsters induced him to download a fake trading application and gradually extracted large sums of money before blocking all withdrawals.
According to the complaint, the victim encountered an online advertisement on Facebook promoting investment opportunities with attractive returns. After responding, he was contacted by individuals posing as investment experts who guided him to install a mobile application through a provided link.
Initially, the victim invested smaller amounts, and the application displayed fabricated profits, building confidence in the platform. Encouraged by these apparent gains, he continued to invest larger sums over time.
The fraudsters maintained regular communication and used a manipulated app interface showing rising returns to convince the victim of the legitimacy of the investment scheme.
When the victim later attempted to withdraw funds, he was either denied access or asked to deposit additional amounts under the pretext of taxes and service charges. Eventually, the app stopped responding and the accused severed all communication, exposing the fraud.
The total amount siphoned off in the scam was around ₹1.45 crore, transferred in multiple transactions to different accounts operated by the fraud network.
Following the incident, the victim lodged a complaint with cybercrime authorities, and an investigation has been initiated to trace those involved and recover the funds, reports The420.in.
