Woman conned out of ?2 crore in online trading scam

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A Cooke Town resident lost ?2 crore in an online trading scam after being duped by fraudsters posing as representatives of a firm called ‘Hem Securities.’ The victim has lodged a complaint with the East CEN Crime Police against two individuals, Girivasan Iyengar and Aisha Sithika, who lured her with promises of guaranteed investment returns.

Over several interactions, the scammers convinced her to transfer large sums into multiple bank accounts. When she attempted to withdraw her money on 31 January, they demanded a 15% commission and additional transaction fees. Even after making the payment, she found them unreachable.

Realising she had been defrauded, she reported the incident to the cybercrime helpline (1930) on 3 February and submitted payment receipts. In her panic, she mistakenly provided bank details of two unrelated individuals, leading to their accounts being temporarily frozen. However, police intervened swiftly and restored access to their funds.