A finfluencer's video, showing him holding a tall stack of Indian rupees and then making it 'rain' money, has gone viral.
He claims that he earned all of that wealth through trading but Moneycontrol has found that it is part of an online multi-level marketing scam involving a gaming app/website called 91 Club.
According to a fintech veteran, it shouldn’t take more than Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh and a month of a developer’s time to set up such fraudulent scheme.
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In the video, Arajit Dhar (Instagram ID 1 cr_bhai) explains how he transformed his life through trading. He spins the usual yarn that finfluencers peddle—of coming from difficult circumstances and then making insane amount of money fast, thanks to trading or gaming. He has posted outrageous videos of him attempting to "plant" what looks like Indian currency, shooting the currency out from his terrace using a "cash gun" and several videos of him throwing wads of currency about to make it "rain" money.
Dhar then invites his viewers to share his good fortune.
Moneycontrol has written to Dhar and the report will be updated once he responds.
How the pyramid earns
With 91 Club, each person (agent) earns based on the number of people he/she brings in and the number of bets these people place. There are special rewards for speed (quick activation bonus) and for active clients (active downline bonus). For example, for every Rs 100 recharge done by a user, the agent gets Rs 38. It can go up to Rs 1,20,000 per recharge and the agent bonus from that to Rs 6,088.
The agent sells the app called 91 Club with different promises—either high returns through trading or simply earning well through entertainment/gaming—and gets the users to deposit money in bank accounts that are linked to the app. Withdrawal is impossible.
When we tried to withdraw the money we had deposited into a bank account, in full and in part, the app didn't allow it. It kept giving a message that the user has to take a bet that is valued at the entire amount deposited to make a withdrawal.
When we tried to contact the gaming company 91 Club through its official website, and the only mobile number listed on it, we were told that it was a wrong number.
What's the bet on?
A person can deposit money into the app wallet and bet on outcomes such as guessing the right colour or a number in a sequence.
We deposited money into the wallet using UPI—the other options are digital wallets and cryptocurrencies—to play the odds in guessing the right colour. When we used the app through the link given by Dhar, we found that the money went to a Jay Ambe Enterprises (UPI ID: jayambe18641@sbi).
Interestingly, when we tried to use the gaming wallet using a link by another finfluencer Vishal Yadav (Instagram ID: @vishal_yadav0__) who is promoting this app, the money deposited went into another bank account opened under Shambhu Enterprises (UPI ID: shambhuenterprisesvashi@sbi).
Moneycontrol has written to Yadav and the report will be updated once he responds.
It seems like the app collects money in various bank accounts, not just one.
Whatever the outcome of the bet we placed, whether we got it right or wrong, the balance in the gaming wallet kept getting deducted. So the money seems to be locked in once deposited.
A user commented under the app in the Google Play Store that the withdrawal page is open only for a few seconds and then stops being available for two days. The user has not been able to withdraw because of this, he wrote, and has asked others not to trust the app.
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