Retired IT professional duped of Rs 4.43 crore in investment scam

Pune: A major cyber fraud case involving more than Rs 4.43 crore has surfaced in Pune, where a retired IT professional was allegedly duped by fraudsters posing as investment experts on WhatsApp and Telegram. The accused reportedly lured the victim with promises of extraordinary returns through stock market investments and displayed fictitious profits worth over Rs 26 crore on a fake online trading platform before demanding additional payments in the name of service charges.

According to the complaint, the victim, 46-year-old Ujjwal Digambar Chaudhary, is a resident of Roseland Residency in the Pimple Saudagar area of Pune and a retired IT professional. He had been actively investing in the stock market for nearly 15 years and, after returning to India in October 2025, continued managing his investment portfolio from home. The complaint states that on March 29, while browsing news-related content on Telegram, Chaudhary came across an investment advertisement linked to an account identified as “Amit20891.”

The advertisement claimed to offer substantial returns on investments and invited users to join a WhatsApp group named “663 HSBC Stock Analysis Team” to receive stock market guidance and investment opportunities. Trusting the claims made in the advertisement, Chaudhary joined the WhatsApp group. According to the complaint, individuals identified as Myra Sharma and Surendra Rosha were functioning as administrators of the group. Members regularly shared stock market recommendations and allegedly claimed that investments made through their strategies generated exceptionally high returns.

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