Mumbai: Three influencers booked for promoting fraud scheme

Mohammed Hamza Zaki Anwer

The Kalachowkie police booked three influencers following the arrest of a 21-year-old cyber fraudster, who allegedly cheated Instagram users by assuring hefty returns over their investment. The influencers had endorsed the "investment scheme" and also claimed to have invested in it, and secured a good profit.

The case came to light following a complaint by a woman from Lalbaug. The complainant's influencer friend Ankita Bhagat had endorsed an Instagram account "crypto ANAISHA" and assured a hefty profit within 30 to 35 minutes. When the complainant contacted her friend to check how authentic the scheme was, Bhagat told her that she had received good returns. She also allegedly shared screenshots of the investment plans. The complainant then messaged on the handle. She was told that if she invested Rs 75,000, she would earn Rs 3.20 lakh. "She then transferred R50,000 and R25,000 from two different accounts to the number shared by handler," an officer said. When she was blocked by the account, she filed a complaint.

The accused, identified as Mohammed Hamza Zaki Anwer, 21, was picked up from West Bengal. During the probe, the police found out that he had even paid influencers Ankita Bhagat, Akshay Athare and Manasi Suravase to promote his handle. "The influencers confessed to promoting the scheme, but said they didn't know about the authenticity of the scheme. They have been made accused in the offence," said DCP (Zone 4) Prashant Kadam.