Image Source: Agencies

Bangalore police have busted a Rs 854-crore online scam and arrested six people who allegedly duped thousands of victims across India under the guise of an investment scheme, officials said on Saturday.
According to them, five million rupees have been frozen out of the total defrauded amount.
The accused gang lured the victims through WhatsApp and Telegram. Initially, they were asked to invest smaller amounts of Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 on the pretext that they would earn Rs 1,000 to Rs 5,000 a day as profit, said a senior police official.
He said thousands of victims invested money from one lakh to 10 million or more. The money invested by the victims was transferred to various bank accounts through online payments. But after the investment process was over when the victim tried to withdraw the amount, they did not get the money back, he added.
After recovering the amount, the accused diverted the combined money to mule accounts (linked to money laundering), police said.
He said a total of Rs 854 crore was channeled into various online payment methods through crypto (Binance), payment gateway, and gaming applications.