Bengaluru resident loses ₹1.11 crore in WhatsApp Share market investment’ scam

Bengaluru

A 45-year-old resident of Bengaluru has filed a police complaint alleging that he was cheated of ₹1,11,25,386 by cyber fraudsters who lured him through WhatsApp messages promising high returns on stock market investments.

East CEN police station has registered a First Information Report (FIR) in September and is probing the case. 

According to the complaint, the victim, who lives in Banaswadi (PIN 560038), received WhatsApp messages on 7 July 2025 from unknown numbers — 98492 08227 and 76940 72494. The senders invited him to join a WhatsApp group for learning about share market investments and directed him to contact another number for more details.

When the complainant contacted the number given to him, he was added to a WhatsApp investment group. The group administrators shared links and login credentials to alleged trading platforms, encouraging participants to invest money for “high profits.”

The victim stated that to gain his trust, the fraudsters first transferred ₹5,000 to his bank account. Believing the scheme to be genuine, he began transferring money from his three bank accounts between 13 July 2025 and 29 August 2025.

Funds were transferred multiple times into various bank accounts provided by the scammers, including accounts ending with:

• …54121 – ₹2,10,000
  
• …591 – ₹40,000
  
• …0411 – ₹21,50,000
  
• …2139 – ₹8,00,000
  
• …3590 – ₹17,00,000
  
• …8812 – ₹20,00,000
  
• …1393 – ₹5,50,000
  
• …962 – ₹23,68,886
  
• …0671 – ₹13,06,500
  

In total, the fraudsters allegedly collected ₹1.11 crore from the complainant.

However, when he asked for returns, the accused stopped responding and did not return any money. Realising that he had been cheated, he filed a police complaint seeking action against the unknown individuals and recovery of his funds.