Fake stock trading app: Rs 22.7L cyber fraud busted in Delhi-NCR; 2 arrested from Haryana

NEW DELHI: A cyber fraud racket involving a fake stock trading application was busted with the arrest of 2 men from Hisar, Haryana, for allegedly duping a Delhi-based Doctor of Rs 22.7 lakh.According to police, the case came to light after the Doctor filed an online complaint on November 13, alleging that she was cheated through a fraudulent stock market investment scheme. She was added to a group where several administrators claimed to be expert stock traders and discussed investment opportunities related to Demat shares.One of the group administrators, identifying herself as Yalini Guna, persuaded the complainant to invest through a fake trading application, which was shared via a link. Initially, she invested Rs 2.7 lakh in multiple transactions. When she attempted to withdraw her funds, she was pressured into investing more money under various pretexts.Over time, the complainant invested a total of Rs 22.7 lakh. Soon after, she was blocked from the application, following which she realised she was defrauded. A case was registered and a team was formed.“During the investigation, the team traced the money trail and found that a portion of the cheated amount was transferred into a bank account. The account holder was identified as Sameer (22), a resident of Hisar, Haryana. Call Detail Records (CDRs) further revealed the involvement of additional suspects,” DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said.On November 10, a police team conducted raids in Hisar and apprehended Sameer along with Dev Singh (22). “During interrogation, Sameer disclosed that he opened 5 to 6 bank accounts in different banks and handed them over to Dev Singh in exchange for Rs 4,000 per account, which were then used for routing the fraud money,” DCP Gautam added.Police seized 2 mobile phones and 3 SIM cards from the accused. Both were sent to judicial custody.Police said the accused targeted victims through social media platforms, posing as financial experts. Victims were lured with promises of guaranteed high returns on stock market investments. Initially, small profits were shown to gain trust. Once confidence was established, victims were coaxed into investing larger amounts. After extracting maximum money, the fraudsters blocked the victims and disappeared.