Man cheated of over Rs 1cr in fake online investment in Noida | Noida News

Noida: A man was allegedly cheated of Rs 1.15 crore in an online investment scam after being lured by a woman posing as a certified financial analyst. The victim, a resident of Sector 44, was contacted by Rishita on Jan 27, who persuaded him to invest through several fraudulent websites.
According to the complainant, Rishita provided links to two websites — catalystgroupstar.com and pe.catamarketss.com — which redirected him to another portal — m.catamarketss.com — where he made an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh from his sister’s account on Jan 31.
“The following day, Rishita informed me that I had earned a profit of Rs 15,040, which I was able to withdraw, building my trust in the investment opportunity,” the complainant said.
Encouraged by this success, the complainant continued investing throughout Feb, eventually depositing Rs 65 lakh into various accounts following Rishita’s advice. He was assured that his total investment and earnings had reached Rs 1.9 crore. However, he was told that in order to withdraw the money, he would need to pay Rs 31.6 lakh as a “tax”, which he did in early March.
Subsequently, he was asked to pay an additional Rs 18.6 lakh as a “conversion charge”, after which he was promised that his funds would be released within 24 hours. Despite repeated reassurances, the complainant did not receive his money and was asked to pay yet another Rs 40 lakh. At this point, he realised he had fallen victim to a scam.
To recover the total Rs 1.1 crore he lost, the complainant filed a complaint with the National Crime Records Bureau and Cyber Crime police. Based on his statements, police have registered a case under sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the BNS and Section 66D of the IT Act.