Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh: A senior banker has become a victim of cyber fraud. A retired DGM of Punjab National Bank in Aligarh has been defrauded of Rs.1.10 crore. This is a big scam, and its roots run much deeper.
Twelve cyber criminals involved in this scam have been arrested in seven states. They lured people with promises of 200 percent returns in the name of investing in the stock market. They then added them to WhatsApp groups and obtained all their information. The scam is expected to be over 1200 crore rupees, involving more than 1.5 lakh victims.
Dinesh Kumar Sharma lives in Swarnjayanti Nagar. He is a retired Deputy General Manager (DGM) from Punjab National Bank. He said, “Cyber fraudsters have been tricking me since November 2nd. Initially, they sent me a link on WhatsApp, urging me to invest money in the stock market.”
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The fraudsters lured me with promises of 35 to 40 percent profits. At first, I didn’t understand this. Then, on December 16, 2025, they asked me to invest a small amount. I invested five thousand rupees. We were added to two WhatsApp groups with catchy names like “VIP Profit Club.”
Ex-DGM of Punjab National Bank lost over Rs.1 crore to Cyber Fraud. @pnbindia #pnb #digitalfraud #cyberfraud #cybercrime pic.twitter.com/dVDt5BgtYA
— Hellobanker (@Hellobanker_in) February 8, 2026
How scam was executed?
These fraudsters created WhatsApp groups and presented themselves as experts of stock market. They shared screenshots and videos of huge profits in the stock market every day. People in the group got lured by these huge profits. These fraudsters gained the trust of the victims and looted money from them in the name of investment.
Ex-DGM of PNB said:
They lured me with promises of up to 200 percent returns. They made me invest a total of ₹1,107,000 in various installments. During this time, I received no profits. When I asked them, they would tell me a new task and show me the profit amount. Later, the fraudsters tasked me with investing three crore rupees. At this point, I became suspicious. After that, I told my family the entire incident. The family said – you have been defrauded. Then, on the night of January 31, 2026, I filed a complaint at the cyber police station.
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Police in Action
In this case, SSP Neeraj Kumar Jadaun, under the supervision of SP Rural Amrit Jain, formed seven special police teams. The investigation revealed that the gang was operating from Hong Kong, involving cybercriminals from various states. Based on technical surveillance, bank transactions, and IP analysis, the police conducted simultaneous raids in Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Rajasthan.
These 12 thugs were arrested after a crackdown in 7 states.
- Jagannath Pradhan – Ganjam, Odisha
- Debashish Pradhan – Ganjam, Odisha
- Jitendra Chowdhury – Ganjam, Odisha
- Rankanidhi Nayak – Ganjam, Odisha
- Durgesh Kumar Gupta – Bhilai, Chhattisgarh
- Suraj Singh Pawar – Dehradun, Uttarakhand
- Ravindra Singh Rathore – Dehradun, Uttarakhand
- Suresh Kumar – Greater Faridabad, Haryana
- Navneet Lahari – Dholpur, Rajasthan
- Rizwan – Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh
- Adityapal – Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
- Aryan Vats – Ghaziabad/Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh
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With the arrests, Aligarh police also saved people from a major cyber fraud. In collaboration with the Ministry of Telecommunications, the police shut down 600 fake investment WhatsApp groups. These groups had approximately 1.5 lakh members.
SP Jain said that these people were about to be defrauded of approximately ₹500 crore within the next 48 hours. Police made personal phone calls to more than 500 people to alert them to leave the group.
International Connections
The investigation also revealed international connections to this gang. They used mule bank accounts to trick innocent people into opening them, and then trapping the account holders into cyber slavery.
According to police, the fraudulent funds were first withdrawn in cash from various bank accounts, then converted into USDT (cryptocurrency) and sent abroad. The IP addresses for these activities were traced to Southeast Asia.
Superintendent of Police Amrit Jain stated that the masterminds were using innocent people as “digital hostages” by tricking them into opening accounts. Police have seized 600 WhatsApp groups, with 150,000 people connected, and a fraud involving ₹1,200 to ₹1,500 crore (approximately $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion) was being perpetrated. Police are preparing to reach their masterminds abroad through the CBI and Interpol.
How to stay safe?
Digital frauds are increasing rapidly in India. You are advised to stay safe and not get lured by any such investment scheme. There is no such investment scheme that offers such huge profits.
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