Fraudsters impersonate Zerodha Founder, dupe Bengaluru trader of ₹50.95 lakh

Bengaluru

A 48-year-old stock market trader from Bengaluru has lost ₹50.95 lakh in a sophisticated online scam after fraudsters impersonated Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath and tricked him into investing through a fake stock trading application. The elaborate con was run through a WhatsApp group and a counterfeit trading platform that mimicked real-time returns. FIR is registered at East CEN police station.

The victim came across a Facebook advertisement in April 2025 claiming to offer professional stock trading advice. The ad led him to a woman named Shruti Sidhwani, who added him to a WhatsApp group called “K5 Information Power Exchange”. The group, which had around 182 members, was run by a man claiming to be Nithin Kamath, a co-founder founder of Zerodha. This impersonator offered daily trading tips, allegedly based on insider knowledge and block trading strategies.

To participate, the complainant was asked to open a Direct Market Access (DMA) account and install a mobile application named ZBL Lumina, which was later renamed Luminadma Max. The app was shared through an unofficial APK file and occasionally accessed via a URL when the app crashed. All transactions were managed through this fake platform, which showed manipulated account balances and false profits.

Between May 30 and June 9, the trader transferred ₹48.96 lakh via NEFT/RTGS and another ₹1.99 lakh via UPI—a total of ₹50.95 lakh—primarily sourced by liquidating his mutual fund investments. The money was sent to multiple suspicious accounts, including those held in Bandhan Bank (₹29.95 lakh), HDFC Bank (₹5 lakh), and Bank of Maharashtra (₹15 lakh), and through UPI ID mr.4168@superyess (₹1 lakh).

Initially, the app showed his balance growing to ₹1.02 crore, but when he declined to invest further in so-called “preferential shares,” the scammers demanded a ₹15 lakh penalty for non-participation. When he refused to pay, his account was frozen, and no withdrawals were permitted. A test withdrawal of ₹500 had been previously allowed to gain his trust.

Realising he had been defrauded, the trader filed a police complaint. An FIR has been registered, and his SBI savings account has been frozen as part of the investigation.

Police have initiated action and warned citizens to be cautious of unofficial trading platforms and unsolicited financial advice, especially from sources outside regulated platforms and verified applications.

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