Bengaluru woman duped of Rs 13 lakh after fake guru promises to double investment

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It is difficult to not get lured by the prospect of earning easy money and lucrative investment opportunities. Fraudsters are making the most of the opportunity to dupe gullible public. In a similar case, a person posing as a 'guruji' online tricked a Bengaluru woman into transferring Rs 13 lakh.

The 38-year-old woman fell prey to the online fraud after the fake guruji on Instagram promised to bless her stock portfolio into doubling or even tripling the investment. But it is only after emptying her wallet that she realised what looked like a golden ticket turned out to be a scam.

The woman, working in a private firm, has now lodged a complaint with the East CEN Crime police station stating that she lost Rs 13 lakh to cybercrooks, led by a fake online guruji.

"We have come across several investment fraud cases in the past, but this is very different as the victim here was tricked emotionally and devotionally," a senior police officer told The Times of India.

It was in April 2024 that Aditi (name changed) came across a message on her Instagram account wherein the sender claimed to know her through her brother. The fraudster told the woman how he could help boost her stock market returns and also shared a mobile number for "further guidance and blessings".

Upon calling on the number shared online, Aditi was introduced to a person who identified himself as 'guruji'. When he promised to unlock the stock market's hidden potential through a 'matarani puja', she fell for the trick. She transferred Rs 2,850 via a digital payment link to start the divine intervention, as was asked by the man.

He then called her asking for more money for some additional puja which would make her portfolio grow rapidly. Aditi had paid Rs 22,000 till this point. The fraudster approached the woman once again with more requests for money and this time took another woman's help. He introduced the woman to Aditi as his wife.

But her ordeal didn't end here. There was a new twist to the scam when Aditi was introduced online to a more 'powerful and bigger' guruji who reassured her that the right time for returns hadn't yet arrived and that more pujas had to be done.

Hoping to see her investment double, the woman kept transferring more money. Over the next five months, Aditi transferred nearly Rs 12.8 lakh in the name of divine stock market intervention. Every time she asked about her 'investment', the guruji cited cosmic delays and said more pujas were required to appease the markets. Eventually, Aditi realised she was being taken for a ride by fraudsters.

"The complainant said she was not aware of the fraud and delayed filing the complaint. We have registered the case under Information Technology Act and BNS Section 318 (cheating). Since the transactions happened almost four months ago, we are coordinating with banks to check if there is any amount left in the fraudsters' account to freeze it," a senior cop said.