Mumbai: Kandivali Businessman Duped of Rs 79 Lakh in Online Trading Cyber Scam

A 56-year-old businessman from Thakur Complex in Kandivali (East) has been allegedly duped of nearly ₹79.14 lakh by a group of cyber fraudsters who lured him into investing in fake online trading platforms under the pretext of high returns through dollar trading.

The complaint, filed by the victim who has been in business for over 35 years, mentions that the fraud began on 16 May 2025, when he came across suspicious profiles while browsing his personal Facebook account.

On 17 May, the businessman was contacted by one "Ruchika Bhatt", who claimed to be a property dealer and introduced herself through a Facebook profile. After befriending the complainant, she shared her WhatsApp number and claimed to operate from Vashi. She offered him a business partnership and later convinced him to invest in a dollar trading scheme via a platform named FxPro, accessed through a fake link (https://m.fxprovip.cc). The interface falsely showed increasing profits. Believing it to be genuine, the businessman transferred funds from his personal Bank of India account and a company account in Bank of Maharashtra into various other accounts as instructed by her.

In a similar pattern, on 21 May, another woman named “Anya Roy”, claiming to be a fashion designer, contacted the businessman via Facebook and WhatsApp. She promoted a different trading platform called Bing X through the link https://bitfinew.com. She showed him fabricated profits, including a ₹50,000 investment turning into ₹54,800, a portion of which was credited back to his account to gain trust. She then directed him to interact with one Aneesh Mathew, upon whose guidance he made further transactions.

On the same day, the businessman was contacted by "Deepti Kulkarni", claiming to work with L&T. She promised a joint venture and persuaded him to invest on yet another fake platform called Market Axess (https://pc.marketaxess.co/). Repeated screenshots showing supposed profits prompted him to continue transferring funds.

He also interacted with "Nitya Agarwal", who claimed to run an import-export company and expressed interest in a joint venture. She pushed him to invest through a different platform called GBI (https://m.gbiltg.com/). To strengthen his trust, ₹2 lakh was temporarily deposited into his account before she requested further investments.

In total, under the influence of these individuals, the complainant transferred ₹79,14,700 to multiple bank accounts. Eventually, when he tried to withdraw his profits, he was asked to deposit more funds. Suspicious of this pattern, he informed his son, who investigated the platforms and found them to be fraudulent interfaces showing fictitious earnings.

The businessman has handed over evidence including chats, transaction records, screenshots, and bank statements to the police. He has also filed a report on the national cybercrime helpline 1930. Legal action has been sought against all five accused – Ruchika Bhatt, Anya Roy, Aneesh Mathew, Deepti Kulkarni, and Nitya Agarwal – along with the bank account holders who received the funds.

Police are currently probing the matter further.