A Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh has arrested three people in Noida for duping nearly seven lakh people of Rs 3,700 crore through online fraud, ANI reported on Friday. Investigators seized nearly Rs 500 crore and found that more than one lakh complaints of non-payment existed on their server.
Anubhav Mittal, Sridhar Prasad and Mahesh Dayal ran a scam using the portal ‘social trade.biz’, which was registered under Ablaze Info Solutions Pvt Ltd. Investors had to pay anything between Rs 5,750 and Rs 57,500 to become a member.
Mittal – believed to be the mastermind behind the Ponzi scheme – promised investors returns for “liking” links they were sent as SMSs, reported The Times of India. They tricked investors under the ruse of the “Earn Rs 5 per click” scheme and sent them 25, 50, 75 or 125 links every day based on their membership plan.
“The company claimed it earned Rs 6 for every click and gave Rs 5 to investors. However, the links sent were fake,” Superintendent of Police (Special Task Force) Triveni Singh told IANS. The accused evaded arrest by constantly changing the name of their company.
The police seized documents that contained the balance sheet of the fake firm and a list of investors, as well. The task force has also intimated the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India and Income Tax Department about the online fraud, according to IANS.
However, around 20 investors gathered outside the Ablaze Info office on Thursday evening in support of the company, reported Hindustan Times. They claimed that the three accused had been running their operation transparently. One of them told the English daily that he had been earning Rs 22,000 per month from his investment in the company.
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