COIMBATORE: An elderly man was duped of Rs 1.43 crore by luring him to invest in online trading in Coimbatore. According to police, Pon Jayabalakrishnan, 65, from Rathinapuri, who is into stone quarrying, had recently received a message in whatsapp assuring of high returns for investments in online trading.

“When he contacted the number, the fraudster lured him to invest while promising unbelievably high returns. Trusting him, the elderly man sent a total of Rs 1.43 crore in multiple transactions online.

However, he did not get any returns as promised and couldn’t reach him out as the mobile number remained switched off,” police said. On receiving a complaint, the Coimbatore cyber crime police have registered a case and further inquiries are on.