Hyderabad man loses ₹78.7 lakh in fake trading app scam
HYDERABAD: A 43-year-old IT employee from Nalagandla has alleged that he was cheated of ₹78.7 lakh in an online stock trading scam operated through a fraudulent mobile application and WhatsApp groups posing as representatives of Aditya Birla Sun Life.
According to the complaint lodged at Chandanagar police station on February 18, 2026, Mukul Chandok joined a WhatsApp group named “ABSL HNW” on January 28, 2026, through an invite link sent by a person identifying herself as “Diya Mehra”. She claimed to be assisting investors in stock market trading through an institutional account.
Fake institutional account used to lure investor
Chandok stated that he was added to a group titled “L09 ABSL Wealth Assets”, allegedly led by a person identifying himself as Prof. A Balasubramanian. The group members shared screenshots of high returns from block trades, upper circuit stocks, IPO allotments and over-the-counter trades.
On the advice of the group, Chandok downloaded an app named “ABSL HNW” from a Google Play Store link and created an account using his mobile number. He initially transferred ₹10,000 on January 28 through IMPS to a Kotak bank account linked to TREZORA Digicom Private Limited. He later withdrew ₹8,109, which he said built his confidence.
Encouraged by apparent profits, he transferred multiple amounts between February 2 and February 13, 2026. These included ₹50,000, ₹40,000, ₹1.50 lakh and three transfers totalling ₹27 lakh on February 6. Further transfers of ₹50,000 and ₹9.50 lakh were made on February 10, followed by ₹25 lakh on February 11, ₹14.50 lakh on February 12 and ₹13.25 lakh on February 13.
In total, he transferred ₹78,75,000 to various bank accounts and UPI IDs shared by the alleged customer care executives.
Withdrawal blocked, ₹60 lakh more demanded
Chandok alleged that on February 9, the app showed that he had been allotted 1,88,000 shares of “Brandman Retail” under NSE SME at an issue price of ₹45.17. The app later reflected a listing price of ₹211.80, showing a virtual profit of ₹3,79,59,091.86 in his account.
When he attempted to withdraw funds on February 17, all withdrawal requests were rejected. He alleged that the accused demanded an additional ₹60 lakh to process the withdrawal of the profits.
Suspicious of the demand, Chandok made enquiries and realised that the app and trading operations were fraudulent. He alleged that the accused had created a forged application to siphon off money while displaying fake profits exceeding ₹4 crore on the platform.
He named multiple WhatsApp numbers allegedly used by the accused persons, including those identifying themselves as “Diya Mehra” and “A Balasubramanian”. He sought legal action against the operators of the fraudulent app and associated bank account holders for causing wrongful loss of ₹78,66,891, after accounting for the ₹8,109 returned.
Police said they have registered a case and are examining the bank accounts and digital trail involved in the transactions.
