The Delhi Police Crime Branch has arrested four people, including two women, for running a large online investment scam. The group is suspected of cheating victims across several states and routing nearly ten crore rupees through a chain of mule bank accounts.
The case began on fourteen June when a victim filed a complaint. He said that a woman contacted him on social media and convinced him to invest through a trading platform that claimed to offer high returns. He transferred money in several instalments totalling forty nine lakh thirty five thousand rupees. When he tried to withdraw his profit, the website and the handler stopped responding. Police then registered a case under sections for cheating, impersonation and the use of forged electronic records.
The Cyber Cell studied digital records, transaction logs, chat messages and activity patterns on the fraudulent trading website. The team found that the stolen money was moved through many layers of mule accounts. These accounts were opened in the names of financially weak individuals who allowed their details to be used for a commission.
Following the trail, police arrested Atul Kumar who is thirty four years old, Ajay Sharma who is twenty eight years old and identified as a key operator, a fifty four year old woman who managed mule accounts and Varsha Sharma who is thirty five years old and also a mule account holder.
Police said the group used a detailed layering model to hide the movement of funds. The fifty four year old woman received about three lakh rupees in her account. Varsha Sharma and Atul Kumar received about three lakh sixty nine thousand rupees. Their accounts were linked to more than sixty seven cyber fraud cases. Most mule account holders never met the masterminds. Local agents collected their documents, opened accounts on their behalf and paid them a small amount per transaction.
Police said the scam was run through what they described as a honey trapped investment model. Many victims were first approached through female or foreign seeming social media profiles. After weeks of conversation, they were directed to a trading website. This website showed fake live profits on a false dashboard. Believing they were earning money, victims kept investing larger amounts. In reality, the money was moved at once into the mule account network.
The fraud network operated across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra. Labourers, homemakers and unemployed youth were often used as account holders.
Police officials warned that fake investment platforms are increasing quickly. They urged people to be cautious. “Do not engage with investment offers sent by unknown social media profiles. Verify the authenticity of any platform before transferring money. No legitimate investment platform guarantees overnight returns.”
Police believe this group was only the lower level of a much larger operation. They suspect that the main organisers may be based outside India. Investigators are now checking financial chains, crypto trails and call data to uncover the wider network.
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