Pune chartered accountant loses 1.15cr in WhatsApp trading scam
A chartered accountant from Pune lost ₹1.15 crore after falling for an online trading scam he found through a WhatsApp ad called "D18 Exploring Profit Methods" last November.
The ad led him to a group where he was promised exclusive, high-profit trading opportunities for special investors, and the victim joined a group hoping to make quick gains.
Invested 60L then 53L, police probe
He started by investing ₹60 lakh in an IPO and was told he'd made ₹2.5 crore: totally fake profits.
Encouraged, he put in another ₹53 lakh but got suspicious when asked for more money and got no replies from the group admins.
After realizing it was a scam, he reported the fraud at the end of December 2025.
Police say he made 13 transfers to fake accounts over six weeks, and they're now tracking down the scammers' phone numbers and bank details under cybercrime laws.