A resident of Bengaluru fell victim to a forex scam and allegedly lost ₹92.57 crores. Over three months, the individual identified as 52-year-old Mustafa Mukandar made several payments until he realized that the money invested could not be recovered and was defrauded.
According to an NDTV report, online forex trading under the names of ICON Forex and Forex Wealth lured Mukandar to open an account by paying ₹88,000. Attracted by promises of high returns presented by a man who identifies himself as Ramalo Jodara, a Bengaluru man decided to invest in ICON Forex. He eventually ended up transferring ₹23.21 crore to the account.
The trail of several transfers goes back to August 20. He believed the assurances the scammers gave him and after unknowingly making multiple payments, he found himself trapped in lies and deception.
When he tried to withdraw the invested amount, he encountered several charges such as CCT track charges, fines and GST and therefore could not. When he found he would not be able to withdraw his supposed returns, he sought help from a man who identified himself as Pankaj.
As he got deeper into the trap, the alleged scammer convinced the victim to invest again, but in Forex Wealth, claiming that he could help retrieve the invested money through a new series of transfers. Pankaj introduced Mahesh to Mustafa Mukandara, who reportedly demanded a 10% profit to release the investment. He further allowed himself to be persuaded to do ₹29.12 lakh tax paid on the profit amount.
Bengaluru man reports ₹92.57 million was incurred by the police
Mustafa Mukandar eventually reported the matter to the police when neither the profits nor the refunds came. A first information report (FIR) describing the timeline of events was filed on November 10 by the North CEN crime police. Mustafa Mukandar converted the total ₹92.57 lakh from his bank accounts during this period, NDTV reported citing the FIR. An investigation is underway into the websites and individuals involved in the alleged fraud.
Bengaluru man falls victim to online crypto scam and ends up losing ₹42.62 crores
In another unrelated incident, a Bengaluru resident who signed up for a promising online cryptocurrency trading opportunity claimed to have lost ₹42.62 crores. The FIR filed on November 14 indicated that he was approached on social media platform Instagram and later added to an online trading group on Telegram. The initial investments brought him some returns from multiple bank accounts. Lured by the promise of high returns with 15% commission on earnings, he ended up signing up for a fraudulent seven-day trading arrangement on Ethereum/USD pairs.
