Mumbai cyber cops nab six for Rs 1 crore trading fraud

The Mumbai Crime Branchrsquos Cyber Police Station North Region has arrested six people in connection with an alleged online share trading fraud in which a Mumbaibased professional was cheated of more than Rs 1 crore through a suspected fake investment and IPO scheme operated via WhatsApp groups trading applications and layered bank accountsMultilayered networkAccording to the police the arrests exposed a structured network that allegedly worked in multiple layers from sourcing individuals willing to provide bank accounts to creating companylinked current accounts and routing money further up the chain Of the six arrested four were apprehended from Vadodara in Gujarat and two were arrested from MumbaiWhatsApp entry pointThe case was registered after a 43yearold investment professional from Mumbai approached the Cyber Police alleging she had been lured into investing through what appeared to be a legitimate share trading platform The victim first came across an online share trading advertisement while using WhatsApp earlier this year After interacting with the advertisement she was added to a WhatsApp group operating under the name lsquoArjun Mehta Club ndash QUA Securities UKrsquoProfessionally managed schemePolice said the group appeared professionally managed and included administrators and multiple active participants discussing market movements profits and investment opportunities Investigators believe the conversations and trading updates shown in the group were designed to build credibility and gain the trust of potential investors Over the following weeks the victim remained in the group and monitored discussions before eventually expressing interest in participating in trading activitiesPersonally guidedPolice said the victim was guided by individuals operating the group to register on a trading platform through an invitation code and install an application allegedly presented as a share trading platform Investigators said once the account was activated the victim began transferring money from bank accounts controlled by her and her family for investment purposes According to police records multiple transfers were made over several days into different bank accounts provided by the alleged operators Police said the total amount transferred reached Rs 10737208Withdrawal refusedInvestigators stated that the application displayed unusually high returns and eventually reflected a portfolio value exceeding Rs 36 crore convincing the victim that the investments were generating profits However when she attempted to withdraw the amount the operators allegedly introduced additional payment conditions The victim was asked to deposit further money under various heads including account verification charges transaction processing fees and taxrelated payments before withdrawals could be processedFraud suspectedWhen repeated payment demands continued and access to the group later stopped the victim suspected fraud and contacted the national cyber helpline before formally approaching Mumbai Cyber PoliceCop speakA police officer said Investigations revealed that Shibu was operating as a secondlayer handler in the network His role was to arrange current accounts through different individuals and pass the account details further for financial movement Earlier he was handling tours and travels and later he started a logistics service but incurred huge lossesAssociates recruitedPolice alleged that Shibu used associates to facilitate company registrations and current account openings which were later passed onward to another operational layer Investigators suspect that accounts created through this process were eventually used to receive and move money collected from victimsThe six arrestedhellipmiddot Shibu Narayananmiddot Sandeep Gopal Agrawalmiddot Jagjitsingh Surjansingh Shergilmiddot Manishkumar Kantibhai Patelmiddot Kapil Mahavirkumar Pipada alias Vikas Jainmiddot Praveen Govind Kutty alias Praveenpopcorn numberR10737208 desc Amount complainant was defrauded of classDefault