Panaji: Amid growing instances of Goans, especially senior citizens, falling prey to online frauds, the cyber crime police station achieved a major breakthrough in a case involving a 60-year-old victim. The victim was induced to transfer over Rs 39 lakh to two bank accounts, on promises of high returns on his “investment”. The cyber crime police succeeded in identifying two accused and arresting them from Pune. The police also managed to recover Rs 23 lakh of the defrauded amount.A team headed by PSI Anil Polekar arrested Sagar Prakash Dholvi on Friday, followed by Ajinkya Ravindra Abhang on Saturday.The accused were part of a sophisticated fake online share investment scam, said cyber crime SP Jivba Dalvi.The case was registered on Oct 3 following a complaint lodged by a 60-year-old resident of Porvorim. The complainant said that between Aug 21 and Sept 28, the then unidentified fraudsters contacted him through WhatsApp using different mobile numbers and induced him to join a fraudulent investment group named ‘A83 DI Wealth Growth Centre’.He was subsequently lured with promises of attractive returns to transfer over Rs 39 lakh into multiple bank accounts provided by the accused.“To gain his confidence, the fraudsters displayed fictitious profits on a fraudulent investment application. However, when the complainant attempted to withdraw his invested amount and purported profits, the accused demanded additional investments and subsequently stopped responding. During the investigation, the cyber crime team’s scrutiny of financial transactions trails revealed that Rs 10.8 lakh were transferred to account of Abhang, while Rs 12 lakh was sent to the account of Dholvi,” said Dalvi.Police were able to trace the two accused to Pune and a team managed to apprehend them in Maharashtra.“The public should remain extremely cautious while dealing with online investment opportunities circulated through WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook and other social media platforms,” said Dalvi.With senior citizens and retired people increasingly becoming victims of cybercrime, Goa police have already directed banks recently to temporarily pause fund transfers initiated by senior citizens to unknown or random accounts and to verify with the senior citizen the purpose of the transfer, to prevent them from becoming victims of cyber fraud.GFXCitizens are advised to observe the following precautions:Do not trust investment offers promising guaranteed or unusually high returns. Such promises are frequently used to lure victims into fraudulent schemes.Avoid joining unknown WhatsApp or Telegram investment groups, particularly those claiming to provide exclusive stock market tips or guaranteed profits.Verify the credentials of investment advisers and trading platforms through official SEBI and stock exchange channels before investing.Never transfer money into unknown personal or third-party bank accounts on the instructions of individuals claiming to be investment advisers.Beware of fake trading applications displaying artificial profits. Fraudsters often manipulate dashboards to create the illusion of successful investments.Never pay additional money to withdraw supposed investment profits. Demands for taxes, verification charges or withdrawal fees are common warning signs of investment fraud.Report suspected cyber financial fraud immediately by calling National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930 or registering a complaint at https://cybercrime.gov.in.
