Three held in ₹3.24 crore fake investment app scam

HYDERABAD

The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) has arrested three men from the Santoshnagar area in connection with a ₹3.24 crore online investment scam that lured victims through a fake trading app masquerading as ‘Bajaj Financial Securities Limited’.

The arrested men have been identified as Md. Raziuddin, 22, a private employee from Riyasath Nagar; Md. Waliullah, 25, a nursing student from Shalibanda and originally from Bihar; and Mohd. Zubair Khan, 34, a computer operator from Muradnagar.

All three are accused of facilitating fraudulent financial transactions and laundering the proceeds using cryptocurrency, said the director of the Bureau, Shikha Goel.

According to the officer, the racket came to light after a Hyderabad-based complainant reported being duped by a WhatsApp group posing as representatives of the so-called Bajaj Financial Securities. The complainant, tempted by promises of assured returns through block trading and IPOs, invested ₹3.24 crore between 30 May and 9 July. He was able to withdraw only ₹5 lakh on one occasion. When a subsequent withdrawal attempt failed, he was told to pay an additional 15 percent to access his funds, a red flag that prompted the complaint.

Investigators found that ₹10 lakh from the victim’s account had been routed to a Bandhan Bank account, which was then partly transferred to a Yes Bank account held by Waliullah. From there, the money was withdrawn using a cheque at the Begumpet branch by Raziuddin, who converted it into USDT cryptocurrency via Binance. Raziuddin reportedly used Telegram channels, suspected to be operated by foreign nationals, to find such money-laundering gigs, earning ₹1.5 lakh per bank account.

Waliullah and Zubair were roped in by Raziuddin and helped open multiple bank accounts to route fraudulent proceeds. Zubair is believed to have opened five accounts after receiving ₹95,000 from Raziuddin.

The fraudsters’ modus operandi involved luring Indian nationals through platforms like Telegram to provide mule accounts for a fee. The arrested trio operated the local ends of the racket, while the masterminds, operating under the names “Prisha Singh” and “Purav Jhaveri”, are suspected to be based in Cambodia. Efforts are underway to trace their real identities and locations.

The mule account used in this case was opened under the name ‘Cam Zoom Services’ by one Sai Amarnath, a photographer from Old Alwal. Already arrested and currently lodged in Chanchalguda jail, Amarnath is linked to at least 14 other cyber fraud cases across India.