Mysore/Mysuru: A senior citizen from Yadavagiri lost Rs. 19.65 lakh to cyber criminals after falling prey to a fake investment advertisement on the internet.

According to the complaint, the victim saw the advertisement on Dec. 17, 2025 and completed an online application form. Soon after, a person identifying himself as Jaspreeth contacted him and provided details about a company called ‘Money Prox.’ On the same day, Jaspreeth persuaded the senior citizen to invest Rs. 19,887.18 via UPI and told him that another company representative would contact him.

Later, a person named Suman Rai called the victim on WhatsApp, claiming to be an advisor of the company. Rai told him that the firm invested in commodities such as gold, silver and crude oil in the intl. market. He asked the victim to download ‘Money Prox App’ and open a trading account.

Investment through credit card

Subsequently, Rai convinced the senior citizen to invest Rs. 7,45,561.70 through a credit card, claiming that gold prices were rising steadily and promising high returns.

On Jan. 14, 2026, the victim was asked to transfer Rs. 5 lakh each to two bank accounts, taking the total deposits to Rs. 17,45,561.70. When he later requested withdrawal of his profits, the fraudsters asked him to send his e-mail ID and update his KYC details.

As he was unable to complete the process, a QR code was sent to him and his number was added to a Telegram group. Soon after, the victim received a message stating that the prices of gold, silver and crude oil had collapsed in the international market and that withdrawal of the invested amount and profits had been temporarily stopped.

More money transfer

On Feb. 9, the fraudsters again contacted the victim and told him that he could withdraw his profits. They then convinced him to transfer another Rs. 2 lakh to a different bank account. However, when the victim later checked his trading account, he found that neither his investment nor any profits were visible.

Repeated calls to the phone numbers used by the fraudsters went unanswered.

On Mar. 19, a person, identifying himself as Neeraj Menon from the company’s “Insurance Division” called the victim and claimed that he could recover his investment and profits if he paid 23 percent of the amount as insurance. Suspecting fraud, the senior citizen contacted the Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) and lodged a complaint. The CEN Police have registered a case and are investigating.