In a disturbing case of cyber fraud, five individuals in Prayagraj have reportedly lost approximately ₹1.26 crore to scammers posing as investment agents.
Victims were lured with promises of high returns from stock market schemes, without even receiving OTPs or legitimate verification.
Resident of Sohbatiyabag, Mr Vivek Kumar Shrivastava, was enticed into investing ₹50 lakh in purported IPOs—paid in multiple instalments—only to later discover it was a scam.
In another case, Sachin Kumar (originally from Saharanpur, and currently residing in Darbhanga Colony, George Town, Prayagraj) was defrauded of ₹36.99 lakh under the guise of U.S. stock market investments.
Meanwhile, Pawan Kumar of Mirapur was duped for ₹6.98 lakh when the scammer, posing as a representative of a major brand’s franchise opportunity, vanished after payment.
Further, Govind Pal from Kareli and Ramsundar Patel from Nawabganj had their mobile phones hacked.
The fraudsters used unauthorized access to siphon off ₹7.09 lakh and ₹6.98 lakh, respectively, via UPI transfers, all without proper OTP verification or legitimate investment documentation.
The victims have filed complaints, and the cybercrime wing of the police has registered an FIR and begun investigations.
Recent Related Cases in Prayagraj
In one operation, the cyber cell of Prayagraj arrested five members of an interstate gang based in Delhi. They were accused of duping over ₹28.62 lakh by posing as courier agents and carrying out “digital arrest” type threats.
The local cyber-police recently launched a 26-point advisory campaign to combat rising online scams — citing 48 registered cases between January and September 2025 in the city alone, including 14 share-trading frauds.
In another instance, officers in Fatehpur (under Prayagraj jurisdiction) managed to refund about ₹10.58 lakh to six victims of UPI/phishing fraud within 24 hours of reporting.
The cyber policing units in the region are actively acting:
They have made arrests in major scams (see the interstate gang case above).
They are issuing awareness advisories and spreading public-education campaigns.
They have managed partial recoveries in some cases (e.g., the ₹10.58 lakh refund).
However, despite these efforts, the volume and sophistication of scams (investment-lures, mobile hacks, UPI theft) remain high, which suggests a significant challenge remains in fully “cracking” all such crimes quickly and restoring all funds.
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