Investment scams in India: how fake trading apps work

The next part of our scams series. Fake investment schemes were 35% of the cyber-fraud cases Indians reported in 2025 but took 76% of the money, Home Ministry data shows. Most start in a WhatsApp group and end at a trading app that will not let you withdraw. Here is how they work, in charts and real cases, and what to check before you pay anyone.

76%of money reported lost to cyber fraud in 2025 went to investment scams
14xmore trading-fraud cases in Bengaluru in 2025 than in 2022
Rs 21.05 crorelost by one 70-year-old in Gwalior, 2026
19xwhat one fake app showed against what a retiree had paid

Where the money goes

India reported Rs 22,495 crore lost to financial cyber fraud in 2025. In the cities where these scams cluster, trading and investment fraud is most of the loss. Bengaluru police recorded 2,648 trading-fraud cases in 2025, up from 183 in 2022, and 903 more in the first half of 2026.

Share of cyber-fraud losses from investment and trading scams

All India, 202576%
Hyderabad City, 202571%
Telangana, stated August 2026Nearly 60%

Source: Home Ministry data via ThePrint (India, 2025); Hyderabad City Police Annual Report 2025; Telangana Cyber Security Bureau via Deccan Chronicle, August 2026

The Hyderabad figure adds the city's trading fraud (Rs 133.96 crore) and investment fraud (Rs 44.84 crore) out of Rs 251.15 crore lost, from the police's annual report. Telangana's share is from its Cyber Security Bureau.

How it works: one case, step by step

A 70-year-old chartered accountant in Gwalior lost Rs 21.05 crore between December 2025 and July 2026, The Tribune reported. Tap a step to see his screen.

Seven months on a fake trading portal, Gwalior

A woman calling herself an investment adviser pitched a crypto token for high returns. He opened an account on a portal through a link and paid four deposits of Rs 10,000. The portal showed a profit.
After a Rs 15 lakh transfer, Rs 1.88 lakh arrived in his own bank account as a "return". Investigators say this is what won his trust.
More than 100 transfers from his four bank accounts. The portal showed a paper profit of about Rs 33.25 crore.
To withdraw, he was told to pay Rs 10.84 crore in "income tax", then Rs 1 crore as a "risk margin". Each try brought a new demand. Police froze about Rs 1.75 crore.

The same pattern runs through almost every case. The app shows a growing fortune, but the money has already left through dozens of bank accounts. What the apps showed, against what people had really paid:

What the app showed, as a multiple of the money paid in

Navi Mumbai: Rs 12.4 crore on Rs 65.19 lakh19x
Hyderabad: Rs 14.77 crore on Rs 2.3 crore6.4x
Mumbai: Rs 32.05 crore on Rs 5.10 crore6.3x
Pune: Rs 54 crore on Rs 12.31 crore4.4x
Gwalior: Rs 33.25 crore on Rs 21.05 crore1.6x

Source: Free Press Journal, July 2026; Deccan Chronicle, January 2026; PTI via ThePrint, October and April 2026; The Tribune, July 2026

Sources for each row: Navi Mumbai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Pune and Gwalior.

ADi WalletVerified records, shared with a yesPeople hold records fetched from the source, approve every request, see who holds what and can revoke access at any time.See ADi Wallet →

What the group tells you

The groups use a broker's or a "VIP" name, a "professor" who gives the calls, and members who post profit screenshots. One gang in Aligarh promised returns of up to 40% a week across about 600 WhatsApp groups, police said. SEBI calls those members a front: they act "in concert with the operators". SEBI has also warned about "institutional account" and guaranteed IPO offers, forged SEBI letters and fake tax notices. Tap each line.

Six lines from the groups, and the truth

Checked 0 of 6. Each of these is a warning sign.

Real cases, 2025 and 2026

Who lost money, and how

Pune · Jan 2026Rs 22.03 crore
An 85-year-old retired businessman sold assets to keep investing. The four arrested were money mules, not the masterminds, police said.
4 arrested
Pune · Mar 2026Rs 12.31 crore
A 75-year-old doctor paid in eight transfers in 12 days, and was threatened with seizure of his property when he hesitated.
FIR filed
Mumbai · Oct 2026Rs 5.10 crore
An 87-year-old was told to pay for an "IPO purchase" and a 10% commission before any withdrawal.
2 arrested
Bengaluru · 2025Rs 3.75 crore
A 57-year-old retired woman clicked a deepfake video of a famous figure on YouTube that led to a trading app.
Case filed
Delhi · Jan 2026Rs 300 crore+
One network was linked to 2,567 complaints and ran on 260+ bank accounts of 105 fake companies.
4 arrested
Delhi · May 2026Rs 99.77 crore
A software engineer allegedly built one fake trading app that took the money in about 14,232 transactions.
Builder held

The arrests are mostly of people who rented out their bank accounts. We covered how those mule accounts are opened in the KYC part of this series.

What's stopping it

What regulators have done since 2025

October 2025SEBI-registered brokers and other firms began collecting investors' money only through UPI IDs with the "@valid" handle, such as name.brk@validhdfc. Brokers received 21.3 crore payments through them by March 2026.
November 2025RBI's Alert List reached 95 forex platforms that are not authorised in India.
February 2026SEBI had escalated 1,33,000 misleading posts to social media platforms.
March 2026Broker apps on Google Play got a Verified label, over 600 at launch, and about 66 fake trading apps were removed.
October 2026SEBI warned against invitation-only WhatsApp groups and the fake members who praise the "expert".

Why it keeps working:

Rs 132 crorerefunded of Rs 7,788 crore put on hold, all cyber fraud, 2023 to 2025
18.8 croredemat accounts opened since April 2020, as unique holders rose from 3.3 crore to 12.2 crore
62%of investors make some decisions on finfluencer tips
34%get investment information from Telegram or WhatsApp groups

Sources: the Home Ministry's Lok Sabha answer of July 2026, SEBI's Annual Report 2025-26 and SEBI's Investor Survey 2025, run with Kantar.

Before you invest: check, validate, verify

Check the firmSearch for the broker or adviser on SEBI's list of registered intermediaries. A certificate sent on WhatsApp proves nothing.
Validate the paymentPay a broker only to a UPI ID with the "@valid" handle, and look for the green thumbs-up on the payee-name screen. You can test any UPI ID on SEBI Check.
Verify the appDownload only from the app store, and look for the Verified label on Google Play. Never install a trading app from a link.
Forex and "global" tradingLook the platform up on RBI's Alert List. RBI says the list is not exhaustive.
Never pay to withdrawA "tax", "commission" or "processing charge" demanded before you can take your own money out is the scam.
Report fastCall 1930 or file on cybercrime.gov.in. The sooner you report, the more can be frozen.

Call 1930The national cyber fraud helpline. Report within hours of paying, so banks can hold the money.

Every case above turned on a claim that nobody checked with the body that issued it: a SEBI certificate sent in a chat, an app from a link, a bank account named by a stranger. That habit of checking at the source is what our products are built on. ADi Wallet holds records fetched from the issuer and shares them only with a yes, and banks and NBFCs can receive identity and income proof straight from the source, with a log of every share. To see how, book a demo.

Investment scams in India: fake trading apps, stock-tip groups and the 'tax' to withdraw

Where the money goes

How it works: one case, step by step

What the group tells you

Real cases, 2025 and 2026

What's stopping it

Before you invest: check, validate, verify

Sources

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