Panchkula: Retired navy man loses

A retired petty officer from the Indian Navy has allegedly been duped of ₹38.14 lakh through an elaborate online trading scam.
The fraud involved the creation of fake WhatsApp groups and fraudulent stock trading promises.
According to the victim, Randhir Singh, a resident of Sector 26, the fraud started on March 31 when he came across an advertisement for stock market trading while browsing Instagram. After clicking on it, the advertisement directed him to join a WhatsApp group named “E03 Master Trust Shares Boost Group”, where approximately 100 other members were already present. The group was administered by individuals identified as Melissa and Puneet Singhania, operating from multiple phone numbers.
Singh was further added to another WhatsApp group, “E663 Master Trust Customer Service”, where he was instructed to download an app called “Master Trust” for online stock trading. Lured by the possibility of high returns, he transferred substantial amounts of money to several bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.
Between April 8 and May 8, Singh made multiple transfers amounting to ₹38.14 lakh. The fraudsters continued to persuade him to invest more money, claiming that his investments would double. However, when he realised that he was being deceived, he immediately filed a complaint on the cybercrime portal on May 11.
On August 17, the Panchkula Cyber Crime police registered a case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. Further investigation is underway to track down the culprits and recover the defrauded money.