Private firm employees lose ₹2.6 crore in separate investment scams

Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription

The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective.

First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming.

Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day.

Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers

Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there

The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features.

According to one of the complaints, the victim came in contact with a woman identifying herself as Nisha Sharma through Telegram on April 9. | Photo Credit: File Photo

A 38-year-old employee of a private firm, from HBR Layout in Bengaluru, allegedly lost ₹1.21 crore to a sophisticated online task-based investment scam that operated for over two years.

According to a complaint registered at the East CEN Crime Police Station, the victim, a resident of Brindavan Nagar, received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number in January 2024. The message contained a link to an application that promised commissions for completing online tasks.

Initially, the victim was asked to invest small amounts ranging from ₹1,000 to ₹50,000. The application allegedly displayed attractive returns, with investments of ₹1,000, ₹5,000, and ₹50,000 reportedly yielding ₹3,000, ₹10,000, and ₹1 lakh, respectively. Encouraged by these profits, he continued using the platform and invested increasingly larger sums.

The police said the victim transferred a total of ₹1,21,99,000 between January 2024 and May 26, 2026, to multiple bank accounts provided through the application.

The complainant told the police that the high returns displayed on the application convinced him that the platform was genuine. However, when he was unable to recover his investments, he realised he had been cheated.

The victim has alleged that unidentified fraudsters operating the application duped him of ₹1.21 crore, and he sought legal action against them. He has also requested assistance in recovering the lost funds.

A complaint has been filed on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, and the East CEN Crime Police have registered a case and have initiated an investigation into the fraud. The authorities are examining the bank accounts and digital trail linked to the scam.

The police have once again advised the public to remain cautious of online platforms that promise unusually high returns for completing simple tasks, as such