Surat Cyber Crime Police have arrested two men from Ahmedabad in connection with a fake share-trading scam in which a Gujarat resident was allegedly cheated of ₹27 lakh.
The investigation has now widened after police found that one bank account used in the fraud was linked to 14 separate cybercrime complaints involving alleged losses of ₹8.93 crore across different states.
The arrested men have been identified as Sameerkhan Pathan, 30, and Mohammad Sheikh, 31, both residents of Ahmedabad’s Jamalpur area.
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Victim Lured Through WhatsApp
Police say the complainant was contacted through WhatsApp and sent a link to a fake share-trading website.
An account was created in his name on the platform, where he was promised attractive returns from stock-market investments.
Believing the platform to be genuine, the victim allegedly transferred a total of ₹27 lakh into different bank accounts.
When he later attempted to withdraw the money, he was prevented from doing so.
The case was subsequently taken up by Surat City Police’s Cyber Crime Cell.
Bank Account Allegedly Rented for ₹8,000
Police say Pathan, who works as a casual labourer, allegedly handed over a Bank of Maharashtra savings account in his name to Sheikh.
In return, he allegedly received ₹8,000 as commission.
Sheikh is accused of passing the account to another suspect, who remains absconding, for use in cyber fraud.
Police say Sheikh allegedly received ₹15,000 for arranging the account.
The arrangement is typical of what investigators describe as mule-account networks, where accounts belonging to other people are used to receive or move proceeds of cybercrime.
₹30 Lakh Moved Through One Account
Investigators found that transactions worth ₹30,09,057 passed through the account between May 3 and June 7, 2025.
The amount moving through the account was higher than the ₹27 lakh loss reported by the complainant.
That prompted police to check the account against the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
The results suggested that the same account had surfaced in other online fraud complaints.
14 Complaints Linked to ₹8.93 Crore Fraud
Police say the account was linked to 14 complaints registered in different states.
Together, those complaints involved alleged online fraud of ₹8,93,80,922.
That figure does not mean ₹8.93 crore passed through the arrested men’s bank account.
Rather, police say the account appeared in complaints connected with a wider set of frauds whose total alleged losses reached ₹8.93 crore.
This distinction is important because investigators are still tracing how much money actually flowed through each account and who ultimately controlled the proceeds.
Police Probe Wider Mule Account Network
The arrests highlight how online investment scams depend on more than fake websites and WhatsApp messages.
Fraud operators also need bank accounts through which stolen money can be received and rapidly moved.
Those accounts may be opened or rented in the names of people who receive relatively small commissions while the larger fraud operators remain behind the scenes.
In this case, police say Pathan received ₹8,000 and Sheikh ₹15,000, while the account later appeared in complaints involving crores of rupees.
The third accused, who allegedly received the account for cybercrime use, remains absconding.
Case Registered Under BNS and IT Act
The case has been registered under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including sections dealing with cheating, forgery and conspiracy, along with Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act.
Police are continuing technical and financial analysis of the bank account and related transactions.
Investigators are also trying to identify the people who operated the fake trading website, contacted the victim and controlled the wider network.
What this means for you
Never hand over your bank account, ATM card, cheque book or internet-banking access to another person in exchange for commission. An account used to receive cybercrime proceeds can link the account holder to multiple fraud cases even if they were not the person who directly contacted the victims.
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