The Cyber Crime sleuths of the Goa police have arrested two men from Maharashtra in separate online fraud cases amounting to more than Rs 2.23 crore, including a purported share trading scam in which over Rs 2 crore was siphoned off from a Margao resident.
In a statement issued by SP Cyber Crime on Tuesday, the police referred to a case that was registered on May 8 after the complainant alleged that he had been persuaded to invest through a fraudulent trading application called “Trendlytic”, after being contacted by persons claiming to represent the trading platform Angel One.
“The accused communicated through multiple WhatsApp numbers and promised unusually high returns from share market trades. The complainant was allegedly guided through investment and trading activities on the application before being induced to transfer Rs 2,09,78,612 through several transactions into different bank accounts,” it said.
Following an extensive technical investigation, a team traced one of the suspects to Thane district in Maharashtra and arrested 25-year-old Mayur Waghe, a resident of Nallasopara in Vasai.
The police also said Rs 26 lakh from the alleged fraud was deposited into the accused’s bank account before being transferred to other accounts operated by associates. The account had surfaced in 12 cyber fraud cases registered across Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa, involving a cumulative amount of about Rs 2.10 crore.
In a separate case, the Cyber Crime Police arrested a 45-year-old from Satara district in connection with Rs 14 lakh “digital arrest” scam.
The complainant, a resident of Caranzalem, alleged that between January 14 and January 22 she was contacted through the Signal application by persons posing as officials from the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Police said the fraudsters falsely claimed that a SIM card, Aadhaar details and an ATM card issued in her name had been used in a human trafficking case in Bengaluru. The complainant was allegedly threatened and coerced into remaining under “house arrest” while being pressured to transfer money to settle the fabricated case.
“The woman transferred Rs 14 lakh through RTGS transactions into an Axis Bank account controlled by the accused,” it said.
A police team later traced and arrested Yogesh Kantilal Shah, a resident of Khandala in Satara district. He had received the full amount in his bank account before routing the funds to other accounts. Further analysis showed that the same account was allegedly connected to cyber fraud cases in Goa and West Bengal involving a cumulative amount of Rs 65.5 lakh.
