‘Pay Tax to Withdraw’: Mangaluru Man Loses Rs 19.63 Lakh in Telegram Trading Scam
A 38 year old man was allegedly lured into a fake trading scheme and lost Rs 19.63 lakh after scammers demanded additional payments to release his money.
Mangaluru: A 38-year-old man from Mangaluru has allegedly lost Rs 19.63 lakh after falling victim to a fake trading investment scheme operated through Telegram.
According to a complaint filed with the CEN police, the man came across a Telegram group called “Trading Discussion Group12” on June 24 while looking for information about trading.
After joining the group, he was contacted by a Telegram account operating under the name ‘nalandacapital’. The people behind the account allegedly convinced him to invest money in trading and provided UPI IDs and bank account details for making payments.
The victim reportedly transferred money in multiple instalments between June 24 and August 20. His total payments eventually reached Rs 19.63 lakh.
The situation changed when he tried to withdraw his investment. The accused allegedly told him that he needed to pay tax before the money could be released.
The man reportedly made the additional payment as instructed. However, when he attempted to withdraw his funds again, the scammers allegedly demanded that he maintain a balance of Rs 9,40,500 in his trading account.
At this point, the man became suspicious and discussed the matter with his neighbours. He then realised that he may have been targeted in an online fraud.
He contacted the national cybercrime helpline 1930 on August 22 and later approached the CEN police, where he filed a complaint.
The case highlights the risks associated with investment offers circulated through messaging platforms, particularly schemes that demand additional payments before allowing users to withdraw their supposed profits or investments.