A 47-year-old tech professional from Bengaluru allegedly lost a staggering Rs 1.9 crore after a Facebook advertisement promising an online trading opportunity led him into what police suspect was a fake investment platform.
A 47-year-old tech professional from Bengaluru allegedly lost a staggering Rs 1.9 crore after a Facebook advertisement promising an online trading opportunity led him into what police suspect was a fake investment platform.
According to a complaint filed by Siddarth (name changed), a resident of Varanasi in east Bengaluru, the alleged fraud took place between February 27 and September 9. The ordeal began when he came across an advertisement on Facebook in February and clicked on it.
He was subsequently contacted by two people who allegedly posed as representatives and advisers of a trading platform. Claiming to offer guidance, they persuaded him to join an investment platform called ‘Proxtrend’.
Siddarth then created an account on the website http://www.proxtrendltd.com, which claimed to be operated by Proxtrend Ltd, registered on Mwali Island, Comoros. He began trading on February 27 and soon came into regular contact with a person identified as Raja S, who introduced himself as an account manager and allegedly guided him through trading and financial transactions.
Over the next several months, Siddarth transferred substantial sums of money for trading and investment purposes. However, concerns began to surface when he tried to access his funds.
According to his complaint, his withdrawal requests were not processed. Instead, he allegedly continued receiving messages and calls urging him to carry out more trades or arrange additional funds. While he had initially managed to make only limited withdrawals, the situation changed when he sought to withdraw his remaining money on September 9.
Even after waiting for more than 48 hours, the withdrawal request was allegedly not processed. He was reportedly told that withdrawing the funds was a difficult and tedious process. He was also allegedly asked to arrange additional amounts, including Rs 50 lakh and Rs 20 lakh, to facilitate the release of his money.
The complainant named several people who allegedly contacted him, including Raja Reslan, Walter Khan, Ronnie S, Alisha Agarwal, Shashikanth Sharma, Shiva Tappar and Rayan S. He also mentioned George Tyson, Vijay Sharma and Jay Shroff, seeking verification of their identities and their alleged links with the platform.
Siddarth said he had already approached the cyber helpline 1930 following the alleged fraud. The transactions were carried out between February 27 and September 9, with the total loss estimated at Rs 1.9 crore.
East Cyber Crime police have launched efforts to trace and freeze the funds allegedly transferred by the victim as part of their investigation.