Pune: Elderly Pune Resident Loses Rs 22 Crore in Stock Market Cyber Scam
Pune, 20th January 2026: Cyber criminals have defrauded an 88-year-old Pune resident of more than Rs 22 crore by enticing him with false promises of high returns through stock market investments, in one of the biggest cyber fraud cases reported in the city in recent times. Pune Cyber Police have registered a case against an unidentified accused following a complaint by a senior citizen.
According to police officials, the complainant is originally from Gurugram and currently resides in the Magarpatta City area. His son and daughter-in-law work in the information technology sector. The victim had earlier owned a small factory in the Hadapsar industrial area, which was sold during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a substantial financial corpus.
Investigations revealed that the fraud began in October last year, when the elderly man was contacted by cyber fraudsters who persuaded him to invest in the stock market, assuring him of unusually high profits. To build trust, the accused initially asked him to transfer a small sum and later displayed fabricated profit figures credited to his account, though no actual returns were received.
Convinced by the false assurances, the victim went on to transfer money on multiple occasions to various bank accounts controlled by the fraudsters. In total, he lost Rs 22,03,22,000 before realising that he had been cheated and approaching the police.
Senior Police Inspector Swapnali Shinde is supervising the investigation. Further investigation is underway.
