Nagpur: A 42-year-old man from the Umred Road–Wihirgaon area of Nagpur was allegedly cheated of ₹15.74 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured him into a fake stock market investment scheme promising high returns through a WhatsApp group and a fraudulent trading application.

According to the complaint, the incident occurred between August 12 and September 30, 2026. The case was registered on October 12, 2026.

The complainant, identified as Ravi Bhanudas Bhagat, was browsing Instagram when he came across an advertisement related to share market investments and stock trading. After clicking on the link, he was allegedly added to a WhatsApp group named “elte connet 13 vip611”, where the accused, acting in collusion, promised him substantial profits from stock market trading.

The fraudsters allegedly used the WhatsApp group and a fake application called “prosam” to convince the victim to invest money. Believing their claims, Bhagat transferred a total of ₹15.74 lakh from different accounts through online transactions.

The application reportedly displayed profits on his investments, further encouraging him to believe that his money was growing. However, when he attempted to withdraw the amount, the accused allegedly sent him a fake service notice in the name of Samsung and failed to return his money.

Realising that he had been cheated, the victim approached the police. A case was subsequently registered against the identified suspects, the WhatsApp group administrators and other mobile phone users under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.

Further investigation is underway.