Mumbai: Retired Lawyer Duped of Rs 9.94 Crore in Fake Online Investment Scam

A shocking case of cyber fraud has come to light from Mumbai’s Mulund area, where a 65-year-old retired professional and legal consultant was duped of nearly ₹9.94 crore by fraudsters posing as officials of a reputed brokerage firm.

According to the police, the accused tricked the victim into investing through a fake trading application under the name “AR Trade Mobi”, claiming it to be the official platform of a well-known financial company. Based on the complaint, the East Region Cyber Police Station has registered an FIR against ten unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act.

The complainant, who previously served as the Head of Admin and Industrial Relations at a major Mumbai-based company, currently works as a legal consultant. In June 2025, he received a WhatsApp message from a woman named Suman Gupta, who introduced herself as an “admin” from Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers Ltd.

Gupta allegedly offered the victim an opportunity to invest through the “AR Trade Mobi” app, claiming it was the company’s official trading platform. To build trust, she shared a registration link and collected his PAN and personal details under the pretext of completing KYC verification.

Later, the victim was added to a WhatsApp group named “Anand Rathi VIP 12”, where multiple individuals posed as financial experts, regularly sharing IPO updates, mutual fund tips, and investment strategies. Seeing impressive “profits” displayed on the app, the victim gradually began investing large sums of money.

Between June and November 2025, the victim transferred a total of ₹9,94,76,958 into multiple bank accounts, believing the funds were being used for IPOs and mutual fund investments. The fake app showed consistent profits to keep the victim engaged.

However, when he attempted to withdraw the returns, all transactions failed. The fraudsters cited “technical issues” and demanded more money, allegedly as tax and commission charges.

Sensing something amiss, the complainant visited the Malad (East) office of the actual Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers Ltd. There, company officials clarified that no employee named Suman Gupta worked with them and that no such app, “AR Trade Mobi,” existed under their brand. It was only then that the victim realised he had fallen prey to an elaborate scam.

Following the revelation, the victim lodged a complaint with the cyber police. Preliminary investigations suggest the accused were operating a nationwide fraud network, creating multiple fake WhatsApp groups in the names of reputed financial institutions to lure investors.

Police have initiated efforts to trace the money trail and identify the accused involved in the ₹9.94 crore scam.