The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) recently arrested the alleged mastermind of an interstate cyber fraud syndicate accused of cheating investors out of crores of rupees through fake Initial Public Offering (IPO) and online stock market investment schemes. The network is linked to 3,087 complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), making it one of the country's largest suspected fake investment fraud operations uncovered in recent years.
The accused, Anurag Arvind Srivastava (36), a diploma holder in Mechanical Engineering and a resident of Ganpati Nagar in Mankapur, Nagpur, Maharashtra, was arrested from his residence on 31 July. He is wanted in a case registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Lucknow under various provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66D of the Information Technology Act, which deals with cheating by personation using computer resources. Following his arrest, Srivastava was taken to Lucknow on transit remand and remanded to judicial custody.
According to the STF, the syndicate targeted unsuspecting investors via ads on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, which promised expert stock market advice, guaranteed returns, and exclusive opportunities to invest in highly profitable IPOs. Interested investors were added to a WhatsApp group called “VIP9-6 ACI Exclusive Guidance Group,” where people posing as investment professionals were allegedly trading on the stock market and posting fake screenshots of huge profits to gain investor trust.
The investigators say victims were then persuaded to download a false investment platform known as the ACI Century App through a specific download link. Once those who opened accounts on the application were instructed to transfer their money into several bank accounts with the syndicate. Police say the app provided fictitious profit to persuade people to invest more money even though no actual investments were made in any stock exchange or IPO.
And when victims were trying to withdraw their funds, they were either not allowed to do so or asked to put in more money under the pretext of taxes, verification, and account activation fees, they say. Such tactics are usually associated with sophisticated online investment scams that use repeated payments to extract money from victims before the communications are cut off.
The investigation started after Apoorva Rai, a resident of Lucknow, filed a complaint with the Cyber Crime Police Station alleging she had been cheated through the fake investment platform. Months of technical surveillance, digital analysis, and intelligence gathering by the Uttar Pradesh STF eventually led investigators to the location of the accused in Nagpur.
Investigators, who interviewed Srivastava in 2022, discovered that he and several other people—Vinod Kumar Rathore, Vivek Kumar Singh, Shivanika, Nadeem Sheikh, Sudhir, Sanchit, and Mukesh—founded My Ground11 Gaming Zone Pvt. Ltd. Although the company was depicted as a fantasy gaming website, investigators believe it could have been used to facilitate financial transactions connected to the alleged cyber fraud. The company could have served as a front to channel or conceal profits generated through the investment scam, investigators said.
During the search operation at the accused’s residence in Nagpur, STF officials also found huge evidence, including a laptop and iPhone, an SUV, 139 company-related documents, three company rubber stamps, six blank cheque books from different banks, two unsigned cheques worth ₹3.17 crore and ₹2.50 crore, one cancelled cheque, and two SIM cards. The seized electronic devices and financial documents will be sent for forensic examination to identify shell companies, beneficiary accounts, and other members of the alleged syndicate.
Investigators said Srivastava has already been named in at least 11 cyber fraud cases registered in different parts of the country, including cases in the Cyber Crime Police Station and Ashiyana Police Station in Lucknow and the Cyber Crime Police Station in Sri Vijaypuram, Andaman and Nicobar Islands. They have frozen nearly ₹2 crore of bank accounts linked to the operation and are trying to trace additional financial transactions and the money trail.
Cybercrime experts say fake IPO and online investment scams are getting more sophisticated, with professional websites, social media ads, fake trading records, and messaging campaigns used by fraudsters to fool investors. Fraudsters usually build confidence by displaying fake profit dashboards in order to persuade victims to invest bigger sums.
Former IPS officer and cybercrime expert Prof. Triveni Singh has advised investors to check the regulatory status of investment platforms, ensure companies are registered with relevant financial authorities, and not simply to transfer money based on social media advertisements or WhatsApp investment groups. Financial experts also suggest checking whether investment platforms are approved by the appropriate market regulator before taking any investment.
The arrest is also a major step in unraveling a nationwide cyber fraud network, investigators say. But investigators believe the operation involved several associates in different states, and more arrests are certain to follow as they trace the financial network, shell companies, and beneficiaries linked to the alleged scam.
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