Retired Bengaluru professor conned of Rs 2.05 crore in fake online trading scam

A retired professor in Bengaluru was defrauded of Rs 2.05 crore by unidentified fraudsters who lured him into a fake online trading platform and WhatsApp-based investment scam. The victim transferred the funds on multiple occasions between May 12 and June 17, prompting him to file a complaint with the city's cybercrime police on June 19.

The scam began when the victim came across a social media advertisement promoting an investment program called the 'Kanishka Scheme.' After clicking on the link, he was redirected to WhatsApp, where individuals contacted him and claimed that investments through their platform could yield returns of up to 300 percent.

The accused persuaded the retired professor to register on a website and subsequently added him to WhatsApp groups titled 'AR-Deposit Services ST4704 Group' and '[ANAND RATHI] VIP 1.'

Inside these groups, members posing as investment advisers and market experts regularly shared stock market tips, IPO recommendations, and investment strategies. To build trust, they claimed that the company operating the platform was registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).

Trusting these representations, the victim transferred a total of Rs 2.05 crore over 36 days to various bank accounts. These accounts were maintained across several financial institutions, including Central Bank of India, Bandhan Bank, Karur Vysya Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and AU Small Finance Bank.

The fraud came to light when the promised returns failed to materialise and the complainant was unable to withdraw either his profits or his principal investment. Realising he had been cheated, the victim contacted the National Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) and lodged a formal complaint.

Based on the complaint, the Bengaluru cybercrime police registered a case against unidentified persons under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita pertaining to cheating, as well as Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, which deals with personation using computer resources.