Panchkula, Sept. 1 -- A retired excise and taxation department officer from Panchkula's Sector 4 was defrauded of Rs.54.5 lakh by cyber fraudsters who lured him with promises of huge profits from stock market investments.

The scam began when the victim received a message, followed by a woman identifying herself as Anjali Mehta on WhatsApp. She convinced him to download a fake investment app and join a group where a man named Ravi Sharma directed him to transfer funds to various accounts. Initially, the scammers showed a small profit and allowed a withdrawal to gain his trust.

The victim was then persuaded to invest nearly Rs.50 lakh. The app displayed a balance of about Rs.4 crore and falsely claimed he had been allotted shares worth Rs...