Bengaluru man loses nearly ₹1 crore after falling for ‘high returns’ Forex scam – Here’s what happened

A Bengaluru resident fell prey to a forex scam and purportedly lost ₹92.57 lakh. Over a period of three months, the individual identified as 52-year-old Mustafa Mukandar made multiple payments until he realised that the invested money cannot be retrieved and he had been cheated.

As per NDTV report, an online forex trading scheme run under the names ICON Forex and Forex Wealth lured Mukandar to open an account by paying ₹88,000. Attracted by the promises of high returns presented by a man identifying himself as Ramalo Jodara, the Bengaluru man decided to invest in ICON Forex. Eventually, he ended up transferring ₹23.21 lakh to the account.

The trace of multiple transfers dates back to August 20. Believing in the assurances provided by the scammers, he found himself caught in a trap of lies and deceit after unknowingly making multiple payments.

When he tried to withdraw the invested amount, he came across several charges, such as CCT track fees, penalty amounts and GST, and hence was unable to. On finding out that he will not be able to withdraw his supposed returns, he sought help from a man who identified himself as Pankaj.

As he fell deeper into the trap, the alleged fraudster convinced the victim to invest again but in Forex Wealth, claiming that he could help recover the invested money through new series of transfer. Pankaj introduced Mahesh to Mustafa Mukandar who allegedly made a demand of 10% profit to release the investment. He was further persuaded to make ₹29.12 lakh tax payment on the profitable amount.

Bengaluru man reports ₹92.57 lakh losses to police

Mustafa Mukandar ultimately reported the matter to the police when neither profits nor refunds came. A First Information Report (FIR) describing the timeline of events was filed on November 10 by North CEN Crime Police. Mustafa Mukandar had transferred a total of ₹92.57 lakh from his bank accounts during this period, NDTV reported citing the FIR. Investigation is ongoing into the websites and individuals involved in the alleged scam.

Bengaluru man falls prey to online crypto scam, ends up losing ₹42.62 lakh

In another unrelated incident, a Bengaluru resident who signed up for a promising online crypto-trading opportunity alleged that he lost ₹42.62 lakh. An FIR filed on November 14 suggested that he was approached on social media platform Instagram and later added to an online trading guidance group on Telegram. Initial investments brought him some returns from multiple bank accounts. Lured by promise of high returns with 15% commission on earnings, he ended signing up for a fraudulent seven-day trading arrangement on Ethereum/USD pairs.