A vacation to Pune turned into a major financial setback for a software engineer working abroad.
A 50 year old software engineer based in the United Arab Emirates lost Rs 1.73 crore after falling victim to an online share trading fraud between September and December 2025. The victim was visiting Pune on vacation when the scam took place. He later filed a complaint with the Pune cybercrime police on Friday.
Police officials said the engineer works with a well known company in the United Arab Emirates. During his stay in Pune, he was living at his flat in Kharadi. While scrolling through social media, he came across an advertisement promising high returns through online share trading.
Senior inspector Swapnali Shinde said, “The techie clicked on the link. His number was instantly added to a group on a messaging application. The group members were discussing the profit they earned by trading shares after the group admin shared tips with them. The victim read these messages and contacted the group admin. He showed keen interest in trading shares.”
According to the police, the group administrator later sent him a link to a trading application. The victim downloaded the app and initially began buying shares of low value. He was then encouraged to invest in high value shares and IPOs, with assurances of assistance from the group admin.
Investigators said the fraudsters shared details of 13 different bank accounts and instructed the victim to transfer funds to them. Following these instructions, the engineer transferred a total of Rs 1.73 crore over the next few months.
Shinde said, “His application showed a profit of about Rs 6 crore. The techie decided to sell shares worth Rs 90 lakh, but the suspects did not allow him and demanded more money from him. He realised that he was cheated and lodged an online complaint.”
Police also highlighted another similar case from the region. A 36 year old software professional from Tathawade in Pimpri Chinchwad was cheated of Rs 66.87 lakh in an online share trading fraud between August and December last year. He too had clicked on a social media investment advertisement and was later duped by cybercriminals.
The police have urged citizens to remain cautious of online investment offers that promise unusually high returns and to verify platforms before transferring money.
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