International online trading scam racket busted; 7 arrested in raids across 4 states

new delhi: The Delhi Police has arrested seven people allegedly linked with an international cybercrime syndicate involved in duping people on the pretext of online trading, an official said on Thursday.

Police said the accused were arrested in a nine-day operation covering around 1,800 km across four states.

“The syndicate came under the scanner after a 36-year-old software engineer from Delhi’s Burari was cheated of over Rs 22 lakh through a fake online trading platform posing as a reputed investment company,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Raja Banthia said in a statement.

Police stated the complainant, Mukesh Kumar, came across an advertisement on social media in April this year that used the logo and name of a legitimate stock trading firm. The ad directed him to a group where members posed as expert traders and lured investors by sharing fake profit screenshots.

“One of the group members, identified as Kapil Jaikalyani, introduced himself as the director of the company and assured the victim that it was registered with SEBI. The victim was convinced after receiving a confirmation email and was added to another group where members frequently shared posts showing profits,” the DCP said.

The victim was later directed to download a trading application shared by another member, Divyangana Thorat. When the app failed to work, he was guided to another website to invest further.

“Initially, he received small profits, which motivated him to invest more. Over time, he deposited over Rs 22 lakh. However, when he attempted to withdraw the funds, the status remained in progress, and he was eventually blocked from the group,” he added.

An FIR was registered on June 9, and an investigation was launched. During the probe, the team analysed over 200 mobile numbers, IMEIs, IP logs, and email accounts. They also tracked the money trail spread across multiple bank accounts.

Investigators found that the social media group’s servers were being accessed from Malaysia, pointing to possible international links, police said.

“The accused frequently changed locations to evade arrest. After sustained surveillance, our team conducted multiple raids across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan, eventually arresting seven accused,” the DCP said.

He further stated that in the first chain of arrests, police nabbed Atul Kumar (31) from Delhi, Prashant Singh (31) from UP, and Bhavesh Kumar Khan (50) from Bihar.

During interrogation, Atul Kumar and Prashant Singh disclosed that they had opened fake firms to open current accounts at the direction of Bhavesh Khan. They handed over net banking credentials, corporate IDs, and SIM cards in exchange for three per cent of the total deposits.

Bhavesh Khan told police that he provided these accounts to another handler, Aman, for a five per cent commission. Further probe revealed that the stolen money was routed through these accounts to online gaming wallets.

In the second chain, Sumit Jhajharia (27) and Yogesh Kumar (24) were arrested from Jhunjhunu district in Rajasthan. They confessed that they sold bank accounts to Rahul, a Dubai-based associate, for a 10 per cent cut. They managed the details from Jhunjhunu and transferred funds using QR scanners sent by Rahul.

In the third chain, Gourav (27) and Vivek Kumar Sattawan (25) were held from Alwar in Rajasthan after a chase. They admitted to supplying accounts to one Saddam from Mewat for a two to three per cent commission.

During raids, police recovered 10 mobile phones, 14 SIM cards, 17 debit cards, one laptop, PAN cards, cheque books, company stamps, and documents related to the fake firms. The data retrieved from these devices is being analysed for further leads, police said.

So far, investigators have identified 46 similar complaints linked to the same bank accounts on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal, the official said, adding that further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members of the racket and to identify their foreign connections.