For the last few years, Arvind Gupta would spend hours on stock trading sites, using the income to help support his young family. A salesman at a rexine manufacturing and import company, Gupta was no novice: having started investing in financial markets five years ago, he thought he knew how to spot an investment fraud.How he could be so taken in, therefore, still confounds him. “I was fooled despite looking up the mobile app online,” Gupta recalls.Yet, 28-year-old Gupta counts himself lucky, since he was able to escape “relatively lightly”. He also helped bust an elaborate fake trading racket.In May, the Delhi Police arrested three people — software engineer Ravi Rathore, cricket coach Sudama, and call centre operator Vikas Rathore — for allegedly swindling over 600 people, including Gupta, into investing more than Rs 90 crore through their fraudulent trading platform.The arrests came a month after Gupta filed a police complaint at the Central District Cyber police station in Delhi for investment fraud.For law-enforcement agencies already grappling with pervasive “digital arrest” scams, cyber investment frauds such as this — in which fraudsters lure unsuspecting investors with promises of higher returns — are now emerging as a major challenge.“In digital arrest scams, the fraudsters generally manipulate their targets emotionally and even threaten them. But in this case, they exploited greed, cheating multiple people on the same platform. Of the total financial frauds in the country, around 65-70% are related to investment schemes,” one officer tells The Indian Express.Story continues below this adBelonging to a family of farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Gonda, Gupta, a Class 12 graduate, began working as a rexine salesman in Central Delhi in 2022. He lives with his family — wife and two sons aged 5 and 2. His job earned him Rs 18,000 a month, and with rent and household expenses mounting, Gupta began looking for other avenues of income.It was then that a friend introduced him to stock trading, and soon Gupta began trading — cautiously at first, and then with more confidence — investing Rs 30,000 over the years. For this, he used SEBI-approved platforms, seeking assistance on when to invest and monitoring daily progress.“I work in loading and unloading rexine sheets and earn very little. After a friend taught me the basics of stock trading, I booked profits initially, which encouraged me to keep investing. It wasn’t difficult,” he says.It was his daily trading activity that caught the attention of the fraudsters, who constantly look for possible targets.Story continues below this adOn February 20, he received a WhatsApp notification on his phone. That message, which came in at 9.59 am, allegedly had one line: “Hello Sir, I am Ritik Singhania from TRADEMAKERALGO Software Pvt Ltd”.It also allegedly provided him with a link to TRADEMAKERALGO on Google Play. A Google search showed him it was an algorithmic trading app that automates buying and selling in financial markets based on pre-set rules and is meant to analyse patterns and execute trades within milliseconds.Although his interest was piqued, Gupta was well acquainted with digital scams and decided to ignore it. Then, over a month later, on March 31, he allegedly heard back from TRADEMAKERALGO — this time through a WhatsApp message and two calls.“A woman introduced herself as an employee of Trademaker Algo Investment Company, which helped customers automatically buy profitable shares,” he recalls.Story continues below this adThe pitch had three things that caught Gupta’s attention: automated trading, lower brokerage, and the app’s apparent legitimacy on the Google Play Store.“I had already read online that such algo trading companies exist, and the woman told me that unlike other apps, I only needed to log in at 9 am, and the app would automatically handle trading,” Gupta tells The Indian Express.“She also claimed that they charged only Rs 10 as brokerage per transaction without service tax, as opposed to Rs 20 by other apps.”Convinced, Gupta allegedly shared his PAN, Aadhaar and account details and filled out an online form with log-in credentials, as instructed by the caller. On April 3, Gupta made his first investment of Rs 10,000.Story continues below this adOver the next two days, he saw profits of Rs 700 and Rs 800 — a pattern that allegedly continued for a few more days.Then he stumbled upon the first red flag — the “debit” option on the app did not work. “When I called the woman, she told me to invest more money if I wanted to withdraw funds. I asked her to let me withdraw just Rs 100 to check if the system was genuine, but she refused. That immediately raised my suspicion,” Gupta recalls.Added to this were other red flags — an Aadhaar number where bank details should have been on the app, a constantly changing QR code and, most importantly, the company’s insistence on more investment. Soon, Gupta confided in his wife and a friend. They encouraged him to go to the police.On April 11, Gupta approached authorities.“I wasn’t afraid because I was aware of cybercrime cases, and knew that the sum I invested wasn’t very high,’’ Gupta explains. “But I was worried that they had my documents. I thought that if I went to the police, at least I would make sure that my documents were not misused. I also hoped to get my money back.”The unravellingStory continues below this adAccording to investigators, police found that TRADEMAKERALGO’s operations were split between two states — while the backend was based in Bengaluru, Karnataka, calling operations and fund transfers were routed through Sanawad in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district.Victims were spread across the country.Fearing that crucial digital evidence could be lost, police say they had swiftly constituted two teams. On May 3, police say they arrested Ravi Rathore, a 31-year-old software engineer from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore, in Bengaluru. Investigators claim to have recovered two laptops, a mobile phone and a Mahindra Scorpio-N SUV — all allegedly purchased using proceeds of the crime.Meanwhile, another police team arrested 29-year-old cricket coach Sudama and 26-year-old call centre operator Vikas Rathore in Sanawad on May 5. Further searches led to the alleged discovery of a call centre setup in Sanawad, which investigators believe was used for the operation. Both are B.Com graduates.Police claim Ravi Rathore, who worked at several international IT companies and was, until recently, employed at a firm paying him Rs 30 lakh annually, was the ‘brain’ behind the operation. Police say it was Ravi Rathore who allegedly developed and maintained the mobile application, even “manipulating” reviews to make it appear legitimate.Story continues below this adPolice claim Sudama financed and oversaw daily operations, while Vikas Rathore supervised call centre employees and routed the “proceeds” through mule accounts.“Female callers were deliberately employed to influence male victims and gain their trust,” one officer privy to the investigation tells The Indian Express. “In this case, two women callers and a man tried to convince Gupta to invest more. These callers were hired at a salary of Rs 6,000 per month,” the officer claims.Investigators say 636 victim accounts and nearly 14,232 transactions amounting to Rs 99.77 crore were linked to the fraudulent app. “The suspects would initially encourage victims to invest sums as low as Rs 2,000 to avoid suspicion. They would also update the fake app regularly based on victim responses and operational experience,” the officer says.The investigation has allegedly revealed that Ravi Rathore used the fraud money to buy flats and luxury vehicles, although details remain unclear yet. Sudama, meanwhile, is believed to have allegedly invested in organising local cricket leagues and is said to have been associated with the ‘Sawariya Kings Khandwa’ team in the Madhya Pradesh Tennis Cricket League.Story continues below this adPolice are now tracing other victims across the country. Two victims have already come forward. While one has allegedly invested Rs 1.3 lakh, the other victim has put in Rs 70,000.Of the 636 investors, police have so far identified 109: 48 from Maharashtra, 27 from Bihar, 14 from Delhi, 9 from Haryana, 4 each from Kerala and Assam, 2 from Jammu, and 1 from Tamil Nadu. Investigators have also not found any links to overseas cybercrime syndicates, although the probe is still underway.The police, meanwhile, advise caution while using investment apps. “An investor must check whether an app is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI),” the officer explains.“Carefully examine the app’s logo, photos, written notes, instructions, website, and pages for errors or suspicious details. If the app offers unrealistic returns, stay vigilant. If, after your first investment, someone insists that you put in more money, be cautious — it could be a red flag. If you realise that you have been trapped in a fraud, immediately report it by calling 1930, the toll-free National Cyber Crime Helpline, or approaching the local police.”Back in Central Delhi, Gupta continues to trade online but the episode has shaken him. “After this incident, I checked the app where I had invested earlier and saw that the debit option worked. Sabak mil gaya, sir (I’ve learned my lesson),” he says.