A 58-year-old retired IT professional from Mumbai's Chunabhatti allegedly lost ₹93.54 lakh in a share-trading and IPO scam after being lured through a Facebook ad and WhatsApp groups. Fraudsters allegedly used a fake trading app to show ₹10.77 crore in profits and demanded ₹29.53 lakh more as commission when she tried to withdraw the money.

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Mumbai: A 58-year-old retired IT professional from Chunabhatti has allegedly lost ₹93.54 lakh in an online share-trading and IPO investment fraud after cyber fraudsters allegedly lured her through Facebook advertisements and WhatsApp groups, promising high returns.

According to the FIR, the complaint filed with the East Cyber Police, the woman, identified as Jyoti Kannan Naidu, had been residing in Chunabhatti since 2001. On July 9, 2026, while checking one of her Facebook profiles, she came across an advertisement related to share trading. After clicking the link provided in the advertisement, she was allegedly added to a WhatsApp group named “C775-HDFC Securities Investor Growth Academy.”

The group allegedly had around 200 members. Several persons using names such as Nisha Verma, Unmesh Sharma and Pooja Tripathi allegedly provided information about share trading and IPO investments and advised members on stocks that could generate higher returns.

The complainant told police that she subsequently received personal guidance from a person identifying herself as Nisha Verma, who added her to another WhatsApp group called “C75-One to One Exclusive Service Group.” She was allegedly sent links to download an application identified as HSL PRO, which is currently showing the name HSL CAP, and was asked to create a login ID and password for a trading account.

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She was later added to another WhatsApp group, “C75-HDFC Securities Customer Support Group,” where persons posing as customer service representatives allegedly provided different bank account details and instructed her to transfer money for share trading and IPO investments.

Following their instructions, Naidu allegedly transferred a total of ₹98.54 lakh through IMPS, RTGS and NEFT from her HDFC Bank account to various bank accounts.

Police said the accused allegedly sent her payment receipts from time to time to gain her confidence. The complainant also received ₹5 lakh in two transactions of ₹2.5 lakh each on August 10, which she believed were profits from her investments.

According to the complaint, by September 22, the HSL PRO application showed her investment and alleged profits had reached ₹10.77 crore. However, when she attempted to withdraw the amount, the withdrawal was allegedly blocked. The customer service representative then demanded an additional ₹29.53 lakh as commission for releasing the funds.

Realising that she had allegedly been duped, Naidu contacted the cybercrime helpline 1930 on September 24 and registered a complaint. The East Cyber Police have registered a case against the persons allegedly operating the WhatsApp numbers, the customer-care numbers, the beneficiaries of the bank accounts, the users of the HSL PRO/HSL application and other associates involved in the alleged fraud. The police are investigating the money trail and the identities of the persons operating the WhatsApp groups, applications and beneficiary accounts.

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