An Indian businessman lost over 2.5 million rupees after being lured into the DRIEHAUS platform

Recently, a 52-year-old businessman from Kutpur Lapur, India, lost more than 2.5 million rupees in a transaction fraud. The businessman has long been involved in stock market investments through legitimate demat accounts.

Indian businessman lost more than 2.5 million rupees after being lured into the DRIEHAUS

In May 2024, the businessman saw an ad on Facebook for a US app called "DRIEHAUS", claiming to provide investment opportunities in QIP (Qualified Institutional Placement) and pre-IPO. After expressing interest, he was added to a WhatsApp group called "Stock Market Tips and Strategies-A2". After initial verification, he found that DRIEHAUS was a US-approved entity and decided to try investing.

After joining DRIEHAUS, he followed the stock investment tips provided by the platform through his demat account and received initial returns.

Encouraged, he opened a trading account with DRIEHAUS, invested an initial amount of Rs 200,000, and earned a 40% return within a month. This successfully enabled him to increase his investment amount, and the total investment eventually reached Rs 2.8 million.

The account balance grew to Rs 9.5 million, and a 30% handling fee was required for withdrawals

By June, his virtual account balance showed an increase to Rs 9.5 million. However, when he tried to withdraw funds, DRIEHAUS asked him to pay a handling fee of 30% of the total amount. The businessman wanted to deduct the handling fee from the balance, but the other party insisted that he pay in advance. His repeated requests did not receive a positive response, and then he realized that he had been cheated.

Summary

According to the businessman’s complaint, the Cyberabad Cyber ​​Crime Department has registered a case and launched an investigation.

The police revealed that the victim invested a total of Rs 27.52 million and received only Rs 1.82 million in return. Investigations showed that the scammers transferred funds to multiple accounts in Kerala, Punjab and West Bengal, which were likely "money mule" accounts.