Bengaluru realtor loses Rs 1.3 crore to 'JP Morgan' investment scam: 'I have a huge debt'

The victim was contacted by a woman called Meenakshi over WhatsApp. She had claimed to be an employee of JP Morgan. (representational image: Unsplash)

A realtor from Bengaluru lost Rs 1.3 crore to cybercriminals impersonating investors from JP Morgan after they convinced him to "invest" in their scheme. The 43-year-old victim thought they were genuine employees and made multiple payments for about two months before he realised that he was being conned.

V Balaji (name changed to protect identity) told Deccan Herald that the fraud has left him in a tight spot because not only did he "invest" his savings into the scam, but he also borrowed money for it, believing that he would get high returns.

"I have a huge debt as I had borrowed money from several people and pawned my wife's jewellery," he told the publication. "I also used the sale proceeds of a land to invest in this."

Elaborating on how he was trapped, Balaji said it all started with a WhatsApp message from an unknown woman, named Meenakshi.

Claiming to be an employee of JP Morgan, she offered Balaji "investment opportunities to earn excellent returns" along with Zoom classes held twice a day, offering stock tips and investment advice.

“I generally block spam messages,” he told Deccan Herald. “Unfortunately, I believed the woman. The way they set up the whole thing, even an experienced trader would not be suspicious.”

Balaji joined a WhatsApp group named 'MORGAN CAPITAL B5' and attended the Zoom classes, where an unnamed person provided stock tips. He was also instructed to download an app named “JP Morgan” which was later revealed to be a simulation.

The bank transfers were being reflected on the app along with his "profits" from trading stocks. Once Balaji put in a request and managed to withdraw Rs 12,000.

“This made me believe that it was authentic,” he told the publication. “There were also several people on the WhatsApp group who used to share screenshots of their earnings. This made it more believable.”

Later, however, on December 28, Balaji requested a withdrawal of Rs 10 lakh, which was rejected. “They told me that there were some issues, and it would be solved soon,” he said, but communications were abruptly cut. By then, the 43-year-old had already “invested” Rs 1,30,10,000, Deccan Herald reported.

On January 3, Balaji approached the police and filed a complaint. Further investigation is underway.

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