Bengaluru Man Falls Victim to ₹11.2 Million Online Forex Trading Scam

A Bengaluru man reportedly lost ₹11.2 million after falling victim to an elaborate scam that began on the dating app Happn. The scam, which involved fraudulent "fees" and "taxes," began when the man accepted a friend request from a woman called "Leena Jose" on the app.

The conversation quickly moved to Telegram, where the woman persuaded him to invest in Forex trading and instructed him to download an app named Wavegptexa, claiming it was a legitimate trading platform.

On July 3, following her advice, the man made an initial transfer of ₹50,000 to the app. Convinced that larger investments would yield higher profits, he soon transferred ₹1 million to various bank accounts provided by the scammer. Soon, his Wavegptexa account showed a profit of ₹8 million, but when he attempted to withdraw, he was told to first pay 30% of the amount as tax. Believing it to be legitimate, he transferred ₹1.926 million to multiple accounts.

As the scam progressed, the victim was asked to pay additional "fees" to convert his earnings from dollars to Indian rupees, resulting in another ₹736,000 transferred. Despite these payments, when he tried to withdraw ₹5 million, the scammers claimed a "risk control" measure required him to pay 50% of the total amount, leading him to transfer ₹2.684 million more.

The deception deepened further when the victim was told he needed to be upgraded to a "VIP client" to access his funds, requiring his credit score on the platform to be raised to 100%. By the time he realized the scam, he had transferred funds, until September 23, accumulating a total loss of ₹11.2 million.

BrokersView urges the public to remain vigilant and skeptical of investment opportunities that promise high returns and to verify the legitimacy of trading platforms and brokers before making any financial commitments.