An Indian man is counting losses after he was conned out of ₹9.72 lakh (about Ksh1.5 million in current exchange rates) in an AI trading scheme carried out by a team of fraudsters based in Nairobi, Kenya.
According to a report by The Hindu, the 35-year-old man from Hyderabad had been promised high returns in an AI-based trading platform by the fraudsters who were operating under a platform dubbed Bull Markets.
Over two weeks, the Indian man sent a series of payments starting with an initial deposit of ₹20,106.65 (about Ksh30,580 in current exchange rates) to a merchant in Nairobi.
Shortly after, the site displayed a minor profit of $30 (Ksh3,883 in current exchange rates), which encouraged him to invest further, upon which he deposited ₹90,835.63 (Ksh138,151 in current exchange rates) more.
He was subsequently allowed to withdraw $50 (Ksh6,472 at current exchange rates) to convince him that the site was legitimate, which led him to make three more deposits: two of ₹49,663 (Ksh75,512 at current exchange rates) each and one of ₹45,904 (Ksh69,787 at current exchange rates).
However, things took a turn when he attempted to withdraw $1900 (Ksh245,955 at current exchange rates) from the site; the fraudsters dissuaded him, claiming that it would jeopardise his eligibility for future trades.
This was the beginning of the end, as shortly afterwards the scammers manipulated the Indian man's account, purporting that his margin level had reduced and sending him warning emails that his positions were at risk of being closed.
Subsequent withdrawal requests were denied, and he was denied access to his account, although he was still being pressured to invest.
He thus made another ₹27,407 (Ksh41,669 in current exchange rates) investment in another merchant whose man was displayed as a meat shop, making him raise concerns.
In a last-ditch effort to access his money, he deposited ₹228,671 (Ksh347,694 in current exchange rates), but this did not work, and he was completely locked out of his account instead. By this point, his deposits had accumulated to ₹972,276 (Ksh1,5 million in current exchange rates).
The fraudsters then sent legal documents for him to sign, but at this point, the victim had already started getting suspicious, and he refused to sign them.
He finally reported the matter to the Hyderabad Police, where the case has since been booked at the cybercrime wing as investigations continue.
