The South Cyber Police Station in Mumbai has uncovered a major online investment fraud amounting to over Rs 1.5 crore and arrested one person in the case.

According to the police, between 20 August and 4 September, a woman was duped through a fake online trading scheme on the ‘Ascent IT Service’ platform. The complainant was lured into investing in the firm after joining a WhatsApp group and was promised high returns on foreign exchange trading. 

She lost the amount in multiple transactions.

After filing a complaint, investigators traced the trail of money and identified two beneficiary bank accounts. These belonged to Ascent IT Service, based in Bidhannagar, West Bengal, and another account operated by a suspect from Mumbai.

The police subsequently arrested 22-year-old Mohun Isbakun, a resident of Mumbai’s Malvani area. He allegedly opened and handled one of the accounts used in the fraud. Authorities have frozen Rs 31 lakh from the linked accounts and are pursuing the remaining Rs 75 lakh routed through national and international channels.

Police said the accused faces charges under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act.

Senior officers from the South Cyber Division, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) DN Bhagat, ACP LR Gore, and Inspector SS Jadhav, supervised the operation. 

Mumbai Police have urged citizens to report cyber frauds immediately via the national helpline 1930 or through cybercrime.gov.in.

Source