Mumbai Woman Duped of ₹36.56 Lakh in Share Trading Scam, Two Arrested

The Cyber Police of Mumbai’s North Region has arrested two men for helping cyber fraudsters cheat a woman of ₹36.56 lakh in a fake share trading scheme. The accused have been identified as Pankaj Prabhakar Lohar and Dharmesh Dhirajlal Chawda. Both are currently in police custody.

The case came to light after a woman from Goregaon, who actively invests in the stock market, filed a complaint. She said she was tricked into investing through a fake trading app after seeing a social media advertisement promising high returns.

According to the police, the woman joined a WhatsApp group after clicking on the ad in December last year. The group shared daily stock tips and showed members earning huge profits. The admin later contacted her personally and claimed their company was registered with SEBI, India’s stock market regulator. She even checked the registration and found it to appear valid.

Trusting the setup, she downloaded a mobile app, filled in her personal details, and began investing through the platform. Over time, she invested a total of ₹36,56,118.

The app soon showed a massive profit — over ₹2.82 crore. But when she tried to withdraw the money, only ₹5,000 was transferred. All further withdrawal attempts failed, and the group admin stopped responding.

Realizing she had been cheated, the woman filed a complaint through the Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and also approached the North Region Cyber Police.

During the investigation, police tracked down Pankaj Lohar and Dharmesh Chawda. They had opened multiple bank accounts used to transfer the scammed money to the main fraudsters. The duo worked closely with the cybercriminals to carry out the fraud.

The police are now working to find the main culprits behind the scam and are checking if others are involved.

The case has been registered under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Information Technology (IT) Act. The investigation is ongoing.