NOTICE HAS BEEN ISSUED TO YOUTUBERS/SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS ABHISHEK MALHAN @ FUKRA INSAAN, ELVISH YADAV, LAKSHAY CHOUDHARY, PURAV JHA TO JOIN INVESTIGATION
TWO CASES RELATED TO “HIBOX” SCAM, ARE BEING INVESTIGATED BY IFSO.. 127 COMPLAINTS ARE CLUBBED TILL DATE, MAIN ACCUSED PERSON HAVING 4 ALLEGED BANK ACCOUNTS, ARRESTED.. INR 18 CRORE HAVE BEEN SEIZED IN THESE ACCOUNTS.. SCAM OF 500 CRORE (APPROX) UNEARTH. NOTICE ISSUED TO SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS/YOUTUBERS, ROLE OF “EASEBUZZ” & “PHONEPAY” IS UNDER PROBE.
Face2News/New Delhi
IFSO unit has arrested an individual understood to be the main accused involved in a large-scale scam that defrauded over 30,000 people by luring them into investing in the HIBOX mobile application. The scam, valued at approximately Rs.500 crore, involved promising high returns on investments, with false assurances of daily interest rates ranging from 1% to 5%. Many victims were drawn in through the promotion of the app by popular social media influencers and YouTubers.
On 16th August, 2024, complaint of 29 victims against “HIBOX” application was received at IFSO wherein it was alleged that they have been lured to invest in HIBOX application with promise of guaranteed returns of 1% to 5% daily, amounting to 30% to 90% monthly.
Further it has also been alleged that many social media influencers and youtubers viz. Saurav Joshi, Abhishek Malhan @ Fukra Insaan, Purav Jha, Elvish Yadav, Bharti Singh & Harsh Limbachiya, Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh, Amit @ Crazy XYZ and Dilraj Singh Rawat @ Indian hacker promoted the HIBOX application and lured the investors to invest through the app.
Dr. Hemant Tiwari, IPS, Dy. Commissioner of Police. IFSO, Special Cell, Delhi, said, during investigation 30 other complaints from North-East district, 35 complaints from Outer district, 24 complaints from Shahdara District of the same modus operandi have been clubbed in above said cases. Apart from these complaints 488 complaints of similar modus operandi have been found linked on NCRP portal.
Subsequently on dated 20.08.2024 a case u/s 316(2)/318(4)/61(2)/3(5) BNS, & 71 IT Act has been registered at PS. Spl Cell and investigation taken up. During investigation it has come up that one more case vide FIR No. 47/2024 PS Cyber North-East District has also been registered against the HIBOX application wherein 09 victims were cheated in similar manner, subsequently investigation of the said case transferred to IFSO.
Dr. Hemant Tiwari, IPS, Dy. Commissioner of Police. IFSO, Special Cell, Delhi, said, during investigation 30 other complaints from North-East district, 35 complaints from Outer district, 24 complaints from Shahdara District of the same modus operandi have been clubbed in above said cases. Apart from these complaints 488 complaints of similar modus operandi have been found linked on NCRP portal.
OPERATION AND ARRESTS: Given the seriousness of the crime and role of social media influencers, a special team led by Inspr. Harbir consisting SI Mahesh, SI Hawa Singh, HC Bir Singh, HC Deepak and Ct. Lohit was formed under the close supervision of ACP Manish Jorwal, IFSO Unit.
The team gathered details of payment gateways and bank accounts involved in the fraud. During investigation it has been found that services of payment gateways EASEBUZZ and PhonePe were used to transfer the cheated amount to subsequent merchants. Analysis of these transactions led the team to identify four accounts which were used to siphon of cheated amount.
On the basis of technical analysis and surveillance one accused namely J. Sivaram was arrested. On analysis of bank accounts linked it was found that 18 Crore have been subsequently transferred in these accounts.
ROLE OF THE ACCUSED : The entire amount (18 Crore) of victims were deposited in the four accounts of Sutrulla Xpress Private Limited registered in the name of accused J.Sivaram (Director). The office space 17/44, Avoor Muthaiya Street New Washermanpet Chennai Tamilnadu, was leased by accused J.Sivaram in the name of Sutrulla : Xpress Private Limited.
MODUS OPERANDI: HIBOX is a mobile application that was part of a well-planned scam. Through this app, 'HIBOX' lured innocent individuals with the help of social media influencers and YouTubers, convincing them to invest in the platform. The accused persons enticed investors by promising guaranteed returns of 1% to 5% daily, amounting to 30% to 90% monthly. As a result, over 30,000 people invested their hard-earned money in the HIBOX app. However, the platform has since stopped releasing funds to the investors, and the alleged companies have disappeared after closing their office in Noida (UP).
PERSONS ARRESTED & RECOVERIES: J. Sivaram s/o- Resident of New Washermanpet , Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Age- 30 yrs. Rs. 18 Crore have been seized in 04 accounts.
FURTHER INVESTIGATION: • Role of EASEBUZZ AND PhonePe are under probe as the merchant accounts of the fraudsters operating HIBOX were opened virtually without following due verification process and bypassing laid down norms of RBI. Involvement of EASEBUZZ AND PhonePe employees can’t be ruled out and investigation is this regard is under way.
• Notice has been issued to youtubers/social media influencers Abhishek Malhan @ Fukra Insaan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary, Purav Jha to join investigation.