Three people have been arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) for allegedly running a stock market investment scam through Instagram and other social media platforms.
The accused allegedly lured victims with promises of substantial returns from stock market investments and were suspected of cheating people of crores of rupees through the scheme, NDTV reported.
Those arrested have been identified as Vinod Singh Rathore, a resident of Jhabua in Madhya Pradesh, Sudhir Gangadhar Das from Mira Road in Thane, and Sheikh Nadeem Salim, a resident of Malwani in Mumbai. The three accused were arrested from their respective home districts, NDTV reported.
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According to the report, the accused allegedly posted fake advertisements on Instagram offering training in stock market analysis. Potential investors were then added to WhatsApp groups as part of the alleged scheme.
The accused initially provided lessons on stock market investments and initial public offerings (IPOs). They allegedly followed this by sharing screenshots showing fabricated profits to convince investors that the scheme was generating substantial returns.
Victims were subsequently allegedly persuaded to download an application and create investment accounts, according to the report. Once the accounts were opened, the accused allegedly transferred substantial amounts of the investors' money into different bank accounts.
The application allegedly displayed fabricated information about the amount invested and the profits supposedly earned. This gave victims the impression that their investments were growing even though the figures shown on the dashboard were not genuine.
The investigation began after a complaint was filed by a victim, Apoorv Rai, at the Cyber Crime Police Station, NDTV reported.
During the probe, investigators found 3,087 complaints allegedly linked to the cyber number involved in the case. The investigation also led authorities to another accused, Anurag Arvind Srivastava, who was arrested by the STF in Nagpur on July 31. Further investigation reportedly found that multiple cases had been registered against the accused in Lucknow and other locations.
The STF also recovered several items from the arrested suspects. The seized material included one MacBook, seven mobile phones, passports and a car.
The investigation into the alleged fraud is underway, with authorities examining the financial transactions and other links associated with the network.
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