On Saturday, the Bhopal Cyber-crime Branch announced the arrest of two men from Maharashtra for allegedly aiding a fraud ring that deceived victims through a fake stock market trading scheme.
The investigation was launched after a complaint was filed by a Bhopal resident, Anand Singh, on July 28, 2024. Singh reported that, in April 2024, he was added to a WhatsApp group titled “C57 Accel Student,” where stock trading discussions took place. The group led to contact with a woman named Casey Aylward, who convinced him to invest in a company promising substantial returns in a short time.
Singh was provided with a link to an app called ACVVL ONLINE and given login details. He began depositing money into specified bank accounts and was instructed to share payment receipts with the group. Between May and July 2024, Singh transferred Rs 85.3 lakh. His account balance on the app later showed a profit of Rs 3.77 crore.
However, when Singh tried to withdraw the earnings, he was told to pay 20% of the profit first. Trusting the process, he deposited an additional Rs 58.41 lakh. Later, the fraudsters demanded 30% more, which led him to realize he had been scammed. The total loss amounted to Rs 1.44 crore.
A detailed investigation revealed the involvement of multiple fraudulent bank accounts and WhatsApp numbers. The fraudsters lured victims with fake stock trading apps and requested additional deposits under the guise of taxes before blocking withdrawals.
The arrested individuals, Tamas Ganesh Shedmake and Pintu Suresh Singh Bais, both from Maharashtra, were found to have provided fake bank accounts to the scammers. The police recovered mobile phones, SIM cards, ATM cards, and other fraudulent documents from them. Additionally, earlier arrests were made of Nazim Ansari and Saif Ali, who were also implicated in the case for providing bank accounts to the scammers.
