Ahmedabad Cyber Crime busts gang that duped investor of ₹41 lakh through fake FB investment app

The Ahmedabad Cyber Crime Branch has arrested three men from Navsari and Surat for allegedly duping a city-based complainant of ₹41.04 lakh through a fake online investment scheme operated under the name 'Indira Finance Services' on Facebook.

Between December 20, 2024 and February 17, 2025, the complainant came across an advertisement on Facebook promoting an investment scheme offering high returns. After clicking on the link, he was added to a WhatsApp group called 'Trend Exchange Group', where he received investment tips and IPO updates from multiple mobile numbers.

The complainant was then asked to register through a form where he provided his personal details, including Aadhaar and PAN card information. He was later added to another WhatsApp group named 'SS-Indira Customer Service Centre' and instructed to download an application titled Indira App for transactions.

Trusting the scheme, the victim made his first transfer of ₹25,000 on December 27, 2024, and was able to withdraw ₹1,200 as 'profit', which helped the fraudsters gain his confidence. Over the following weeks, he invested a total of ₹41.04 lakh, believing he was earning profits. However, when he tried to withdraw the entire amount, his requests were ignored, and he realised he had been duped.

A complaint was subsequently lodged with the Cyber Crime Branch under Sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections of the Information Technology Act.

Following an investigation, the police traced the location of the accused to Navsari and Surat and arrested three individuals identified as — Vishal Dhol, 35, of Navsari; Jatin Khande-Desai, 32, of Surat; Rajeshbhai Kite Patel, of Surat.

Police seized a total of six mobile phones worth ₹32,000 from the accused, including Apple, Vivo and OnePlus devices allegedly used in the scam.

Investigations revealed that Vishal Dhol had opened a Canara Bank account, which was used for fraudulent transactions. He handed over his ATM card and SIM to Jatin Desai for a commission of ₹15,000. Desai, in turn, passed the bank account details to Rajesh Patel for another commission of ₹5,000. Patel allegedly used the account to receive deposits from multiple victims, keeping a share as his commission before transferring the remaining money to others linked with the international racket.

According to police, the gang was part of a larger cyber network operating from abroad, possibly Dubai, involved in routing money through multiple bank accounts. So far, 35 accounts have been identified as part of the racket, and 25 complaints have been linked to them.

The investigation was conducted by Police Inspector N S Khokhar and a technical team from the Cyber Crime Branch. Police have said that further investigation is underway to trace the international links of the syndicate and identify others involved in the racket.