Bengaluru teen, 19, duped of ₹3.7 Crore in investment scam, police launch search for accused: Report
A 19-year-old engineering student from Bengaluru's Yelahanka New Town was duped of ₹3.7 crore in a sophisticated online stock market scam that began with a Facebook post and spiraled into an international fraud involving fake investment platforms and forged profit dashboards.
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According to a report in The Times of India, the victim filed a complaint with the East CEN police on May 19. According to his statement, he first came across a social media advertisement in February that promised high returns through stock market investments. Curious and eager to earn extra income, he responded to the post and was soon added to a WhatsApp group called "Wealth Architects."
The group appeared highly professional. It was managed by individuals using the names Aryan Mehta, Ishan Mehta, and Avni Sharma, who claimed to represent a reputed global investment firm named 'Rockefeller Capital'. Group chats included regular market tips and testimonies of profits shared by supposed investors—tactics that gave an illusion of authenticity and success.
The student initially invested small amounts ranging from ₹10,000 to ₹15,000. Encouraged by the returns credited to his bank account, he continued to send larger sums. He was then asked to open a demat account through a link to a platform called 'Kopernik' and was guided by someone who introduced themselves as Nicole Taylor. The student was taught how to monitor his growing profits, which seemed to show a daily rise of 10–20%.
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What began as a minor investment quickly escalated. Trusting the platform and its apparent gains, the student borrowed from friends and family to invest more. His parents also began contributing, reassured by the screenshots of rising account balances. Within weeks, he had transferred ₹1.4 crore, with the dashboard reflecting an inflated ₹3.8 crore, including fake profits.
The scam deepened when the student was encouraged to invest in an IPO promising tenfold returns. Following the transaction, his account displayed a whopping ₹7.7 crore. But when he attempted to withdraw the funds, he was told the account had been frozen by the "US Stock Exchange Commission" due to suspicious activity. To unfreeze it, he was asked to pay a ₹40 lakh margin.
Still unaware he was being defrauded, he made the payment—only to be told later that another ₹78 lakh was required as a 5% 'service fee.' When he asked for the amount to be deducted from the existing balance, the fraudsters refused, raising his suspicions.
His attempts to contact the group members failed—most phones were switched off. While some messages in the group claimed successful withdrawals after the additional payment, the entire WhatsApp group was disbanded on May 4. Members were directed to a new Telegram group with 58 participants, but it lacked the previous activity.
Police officials confirmed the victim had transferred money across 11 bank accounts. 'We are working with the banks to freeze the accounts and trace the money. A few lakhs have been recovered so far,' a senior officer involved in the case told to the publication.
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