Man held, juvenile apprehended for duping people by promising high returns in short time

The police said further investigation is underway since the probe team has identified those influencers who had induced and promoted these fraudsters.They have also advised public to be very cautious while accessing internet or such social media platforms and should not fall prey to such lucrative calls and schemes.

A man has been arrested and a juvenile apprehended for allegedly duping people by promoting an investment module on a social media platform through which they promised to double their money in a short span of time, police said on Sunday.

Devender Choudhary was nabbed on Friday after the Delhi Police's Cyber Cell busted an investment fund module named 'Profit_Mania', a page that was being actively promoted on Instagram through many social media influencers, they said.

The police said over Rs 12 lakh have been credited to the account of the fraudsters in last few months.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) KPS Malhotra said videos of some social media influencers were also uploaded on the Instagram account to increase the reach and attract investors.

''Based on investigation, we arrested the man and apprehended a juvenile while a woman has also been bound down. More accused are being identified as raids are underway,'' he said.

According to the police, through the Instagram page, the fraudsters duped their potential targets by luring them to invest in their module on the assurance that their money would get doubled in a very short time.

The accused convinced the victims by saying that their money is being invested in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as well as stock market, and claimed that they were professional traders who followed due legal process, the senior police officer said.

After the victims transferred the amount to the accused, they again demanded more money from them as security deposit. But when the victim refused to pay further, they would stop communication or block the victim and disappear with the money, the officer said.

''If any person is a victim of this fraud (Instagram Account- Profit_mania) or such investment fraud, he should immediately report the matter to their nearest police station or report to www.cybercrime.gov.in,'' said Malhotra.

He also urged young social media influencers to desist from promoting such schemes as inducement to cheating is an offence punishable under the Indian Penal Code. The police said further investigation is underway since the probe team has identified those influencers who had induced and promoted these fraudsters.

They have also advised public to be very cautious while accessing internet or such social media platforms and should not fall prey to such lucrative calls and schemes.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)