Ahmedabad woman duped of ₹17 lakh in elaborate online stock trading scam

An audiologist from Isanpur in Ahmedabad has lodged a police complaint alleging that she was cheated of over ₹16.82 lakh by a group of fraudsters who lured her into investing in a fake online stock trading platform disguised as a reputed financial website.

According to the FIR registered on September 11 at the cybercrime wing, Payal Shah, 29, who works at a clinic in Nadiad, said she and her friend Naineshkumar Modi, a deputy manager with a Gandhinagar-based firm, were added in June 2024 to a WhatsApp group titled ‘E3 Inside the Stock Market Elite Group’’.

In her statement, Shah said the group appeared to be run by individuals identified as Shruti Pandey and Vikas Mehta, who shared daily ‘stock tips’ and claimed to offer access to exclusive trading opportunities. The group circulated links to what looked like legitimate trading portals, including websites with addresses resembling reputed financial brands, such as ‘avivain.com’ but which were later found to be fraudulent.

Shah alleged that after she registered on one such website and provided her PAN card details, she was shown simulated trading dashboards displaying share prices, profits and account balances. Initially, when small profits were shown, she was allowed to withdraw part of the amount, which helped build her confidence.

Subsequently, the accused persuaded her to invest larger sums, instructing her to transfer money to multiple bank accounts shared over WhatsApp. Believing the platform to be genuine, Shah continued depositing funds over the next two months. By August 14. 2024, she and Modi had together transferred ₹16.82 lakh.

When Shah later tried to withdraw her accumulated profits, the alleged fraudsters stopped responding, and the trading website became inaccessible. It was then that she realised she had been duped.

Police have booked the suspects whose mobile numbers were shared in the complaint under sections cheating, criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act.

Investigators said they are tracking the bank accounts and digital footprints linked to the scam. They have also cautioned the public to verify investment platforms carefully and avoid sharing personal documents such as PAN details without due diligence.

Officials added that such scams, often operated by organised cybercrime syndicates, have been on the rise, targeting young professionals keen on high-return stock market investments.