Bengaluru tech couple recovers 1.4 crore lost in online investment scam with police help

A Bengaluru-based tech couple successfully recovered a significant chunk of the money they lost in an internet trading fraud, thanks to local police's swift response. The East Division Cybercrime Police in Bengaluru were able to recover Rs 1.4 crore of the Rs 1.53 crore stolen from the software engineer couple in an online investment scam.

The Hindu reported that the pair, who lived in Banaswadi, was duped by con artists who offered them enormous investment returns. Operating out of the UK, the con artists used a network of "mule accounts" that they rented from people in North India in order to launder the money that they had stolen. The con artists also gave the victims access to a phony website where they could ostensibly track the growth of their investment in order to preserve the appearance of authenticity.

After a few months, the couple, who had first been delighted with the investment's apparent development, tried to withdraw some of their money. Their attempts were denied, though, as the phony website vanished out of existence. They were then completely barred from the platform, which exposed the hoax, much to their dismay.


After then, the couple reported the fraud to the police. Through painstaking research and close collaboration with bank representatives, the police were able to locate the money trail and freeze more than fifty of the scam's accounts. They were able to retrieve a sizable amount of the pilfered money thanks to their prompt action.

"The investigating team adheres to three guidelines for each cybercrime case: tracking the money transaction and freezing the accounts; promptly obtaining information from the complainant; and registering the complaint within the allotted time. Additionally, in order to do the task quickly, collaboration with bank personnel and preserving a good rapport are essential, a police officer informed.

[With TOI inputs]