Dubai-based Keralite loses ₹2.11 crore in alleged forex trading scam run through Telegram

KOCHI An expatriate from Kochi in Keralam has been allegedly cheated of more than ₹2.11 crore in an online forex and stock market trading scam after falling prey to a fraudulent investment platform operated through Telegram groups and a fake trading website. The 41-year-old from Rayamangalam in Kunnathunadu, currently working in Dubai, allegedly lost the money after an unidentified gang fleeced him after impersonating as associates of a stock market intermediary.

The Ernakulam Rural Cyber Crime Police have registered a case based on a petition filed by the victim’s friend. The First Information Report was registered on November 11 under Section 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) (cheating by personation using computer resources) of the Information Technology Act.

The victim was allegedly lured by an online advertisement for a company named ‘Handtec Markets’ in October.