$50 Withdrawal Builds Trust, Indore Man Later Loses ₹7.20 Lakh In Fake AI Trading App Scam

Indore (Madhya Pradesh): A private firm employee was duped of Rs 7.2 lakh by fraudsters who lured him into investing in a fake AI-based trading app promising high returns.

Pardeshipura Police registered a case under relevant BNS and IT Act sections after Vijay Bairwa’s complaint.

Police said the fraud began on August 7 when a man identifying himself as Ankit Pal introduced Vijay to the “Value Trade” app, promising daily returns of 5% to 10% on a $100 investment. After initially depositing about Rs 10,000, Vijay was allowed to withdraw $50, apparently to gain his confidence.

The fraudsters then demanded larger payments for a $5,000 bonus, a “Mega Trade” and brokerage charges. Though the app showed a balance exceeding $19,000, Vijay was later asked to pay about Rs 71,000 as “cross-country tax” to release $15,000.

Vijay ultimately transferred Rs 7.2 lakh in multiple transactions. After being unable to withdraw the money, he found that no authorised company appeared to exist under the name “Value Trade” and reported the fraud to the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.

School staffer loses Rs 44,000 in PhonePe fraud

A school management staffer lost Rs 44,000 after four unauthorised PhonePe transactions were made from his bank account.

The victim said that around midnight on September 11, his phone displayed a “system update” and became unresponsive while transaction alerts kept coming in. He checked his balance at an ATM and found the account emptied.

Once the phone became functional about 10 minutes later, he found four unauthorised transfers: Rs 10,000 to Hansraj Verma, Rs 5,000 to “GOLD SAVED DAILY”, and Rs 24,000 and Rs 5,000 to Pramod.