NOIDA: A 57-year-old woman from Sector 41 has allegedly lost nearly ₹1 crore after cybercriminals lured her into a fake share market investment scheme and convinced her that her money was generating substantial returns through a fraudulent trading application, police said.
The homemaker was reportedly approached through social media by individuals who presented the investment opportunity as a way to earn high returns from the stock market. She initially invested a small amount, but the purported profits displayed on the trading platform persuaded her that the scheme was genuine.
What followed was a series of transfers that ultimately cost her nearly ₹1 crore.
According to police, the woman transferred money to multiple bank accounts provided by the suspects between August 25 and September 29, 2026. The fraudsters allegedly remained in contact with her using several unidentified mobile numbers and continued encouraging her to invest more as the figures shown on the application kept rising.
The apparent profits, however, were only numbers displayed on the platform and did not represent money that the victim could actually withdraw.
The scam came to light when the woman attempted to take out her purported earnings in late September. Instead of processing the withdrawal, the suspects allegedly told her that she would have to make additional payments to complete the process. More demands for money followed, reportedly under different pretexts.
Realising that something was wrong, the woman approached the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal. Her complaint was subsequently forwarded to the Noida Cybercrime Branch, which is investigating the case.
Police have registered a case against unidentified suspects under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including cheating and cheating by personation, along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.
Investigators are now working to identify the people behind the operation, trace the bank accounts used to receive the funds and determine whether any portion of the money can be recovered.
The case highlights a growing danger in online investment frauds: victims may not be asked to hand over money immediately. Instead, scammers can first build credibility, show apparently successful trades and display impressive returns on a platform before persuading them to put in increasingly larger amounts.
Police have urged people to independently verify investment platforms, trading applications, bank accounts and investment offers before transferring money. They have also warned that guaranteed or unusually high returns, pressure to invest more and demands for additional payments before withdrawals are major warning signs of a potential investment scam.
