Overview
- The Mahim-based retired doctor reported the fraud to Mumbai’s central cyber police, who registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
- The victim first clicked a social-media ad promising returns on ₹21,000 and featuring the finance minister’s image, then received a WhatsApp call from a woman identifying herself as Meenakshi.
- Posing as an Upstox representative, Meenakshi directed him to a fake trading platform, added him to WhatsApp groups posting profit screenshots, and showed an initial ₹108 gain on a ₹1,000 test.
- Following repeated prompts, he invested ₹1.47 crore, saw a fabricated balance near ₹6 crore, and was later told to pay ₹90 lakh in fees before any withdrawal, after which access vanished.
- A later account mentions two additional callers using foreign numbers and notes police warnings about similar cases recently reported in Pune and Bengaluru; no arrests or recoveries are cited.