26 May,2026 08:26 AM IST | Mumbai | Aishwarya Iyer
Representation pic
A woman police constable posted at Mahatma Phule Chowk police station in Kalyan allegedly lost Rs 76,719 to cyber fraudsters within 5.5 hours after being lured into a fake stock market investment scheme through Telegram. The Byculla police on Friday registered an FIR against unidentified persons under the IT Act and BNS for cheating and online fraud.
According to police, Varsha Tajne, 30, a resident of Shahad, allegedly came across a Telegram group named "Trade with Prateek Sahni" while scrolling through Facebook. The group claimed to provide information related to stock market trading. The fraudsters allegedly promised returns of Rs 60,000 on an investment of Rs 10,000 and Rs 30,000 on Rs 5000. Believing the claims, she transferred Rs 5000 to an account shared by the fraudsters.
Police said the fraudsters later kept demanding money under various pretexts, including commission, GST, payment error, and forex conversion charges. They also allegedly sent a fake screenshot showing Rs 99,999 transferred through Jio Payment Bank, but it was under processing, and they sought her bank details. Later, they claimed her account verification had failed and demanded an additional Rs 29,544 as account-to-account transfer charges.
Tajne stopped making payments after her UPI limit was exhausted. She informed her husband and later contacted the 1930 cybercrime helpline and lodged a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Police said Tajne transferred Rs 76,719 in five transactions. "The beneficiary accounts were allegedly in the names of Nikhil Kumar and Prem Kumar", a police officer told mid-day.
