An 83-year-old man living in Greater Noida’s Knowledge Park has allegedly lost more than ₹50 lakh to a share market fraud operating over phone calls and a fake investment app, the police said on Sunday.
According to officials, the victim — a retired private-sector employee originally from Gurugram — was targeted between August and September. The fraud began with an unsolicited call in early August, where the scammer casually extracted personal details under the guise of a friendly conversation.
In his complaint, the man said:
“I received a call from an unknown number. The caller slowly built trust and suggested I try foreign exchange trading. On August 13, I invested $50 and was told I earned a profit of ₹4,900 the same day.”
Investigators said the fraudsters then persuaded him to install a mobile application for “trading.” Believing the platform to be genuine, he made seven transfers amounting to over ₹50 lakh. However, when he attempted to withdraw his supposed profits, he was told to pay additional charges — a classic red flag in such scams.
The victim told police he felt “tricked, manipulated, and brainwashed”, adding that he had exhausted all his liquid savings. He even took a ₹10 lakh overdraft against a mutual fund to meet what the scammers claimed were mandatory investment thresholds.
Police said the elderly man did not share his ordeal with anyone initially. His family became concerned when they noticed behavioural changes during a trip to Badrinath in October, after which he revealed the incident.
The matter was formally reported at the Cybercrime Branch on November 14.
“We have registered a case under relevant sections of cheating, personation under BNS, and provisions of the IT Act against unknown individuals. The investigation is ongoing,” said Ranjeet Singh, SHO, Cybercrime Branch.
In a separate cybercrime case, a 72-year-old man reportedly lost over ₹10.6 lakh after cybercriminals hacked into his mobile phone and siphoned off funds.
