A bank officer in Mumbai was cheated of about ₹97.78 lakh by online fraudsters. The scammers tricked him by showing fake profits and gaining his trust step by step, then disappeared after taking a large amount of money.
The scam started when he received a WhatsApp link from an unknown number. He was then added to groups with names like “Kotak Investors Alliance” and “Kotak Securities,” which made the scheme look genuine.
A woman contacted him, claiming she worked with a well-known investment advisor. When he searched her name online, it appeared real, so he trusted her. She convinced him to download a mobile app called “Neo Cotpro” and start investing in shares. In the WhatsApp group, there were messages and screenshots showing people making big profits. This made him believe the investment was safe.
At first, he invested ₹50,000 and the app showed a small profit (about 5%), which made him believe it was genuine. This encouraged him to invest more money. Over time, the fraudsters kept asking him to invest in different shares and transfer money to various bank accounts.
Between February and April, he sent a total of ₹97.78 lakh. To gain his trust, the scammers even returned ₹70,000 once, calling it profit. The app later showed that his investment had grown to ₹1.67 crore. But when he tried to withdraw the money, the fraudsters stopped responding. That’s when he realized it was a scam.
He reported the incident to the cybercrime helpline (1930) and then filed a complaint with the police. Police said the victim reported the fraud on April 18, 2026 through the National Cyber Helpline 1930 and later filed a detailed complaint at the cyber police station on April 20. The investigation is still ongoing.
