What is the Hibox ‘investment’ scam, in which Indians have lost Rs 1,000 crore?

Hundreds of complaints received by police have been clubbed with FIRs registered in all the police districts of Delhi.

What is the alleged Hibox mobile app scam?

The modus operandi was simple and well worn. Would-be victims were invited to “invest” money through the app with the promise of extremely high returns. Early “investors” were rewarded with the promised amounts, which drew in more people, until one day the “returns” stopped coming and the individuals behind the app disappeared.

DCP (IFSO unit) Hemant Tiwari explained how the alleged scam worked: “They (the alleged scamsters) lured victims with the help of social media influencers and YouTubers, convincing them to invest in their platform. The investors were promised guaranteed returns of 1 per cent to 5 per cent daily, amounting to 30 per cent to 90 per cent monthly.

“More than 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 companies have disappeared after closing their office in Noida,” he said.

When did the alleged scam come to light?

On August 16, police received complaints from 29 persons at the IFSO unit, who said they were promised guaranteed daily returns of 1 per cent to 5 per cent.

“One thing that all the complainants said was they had decided to invest in Hibox after they found that the app was promoted by many social media influencers and YouTubers: Saurav Joshi; Abhishek Malhan alias Fukra Insaan; Purav Jha; Elvish Yadav; Bharti Singh; Harsh Limbachiya; Lakshay Choudhary, Adarsh Singh; Amit alias Crazy XYZ; and Dilraj Singh Rawat,” DCP Tiwari said.

After conducting an initial inquiry into the complaints, police registered an FIR on August 20, and subsequently discovered that a similar FIR had been registered at the cyber police station of North Delhi, where nine persons complained of being cheated in similar manner.

“During investigation 30 other complaints from North-East district, 35 complaints from Outer district, 24 complaints from Shahdara district of the same modus operandi were transferred to the IFSO and all have been clubbed in with the registered FIRs. Apart from these complaints 488 complaints of similar modus operandi have been found linked on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP),” he said.

What did the investigation find?

After details of payment gateways and bank accounts involved were collected, it was found that payment gateways Easebuzz and PhonePe were used to transfer moneys, Tiwari said.

“Analysis of these transactions led the team to identify four accounts which were used to siphon off cheated amounts. On the basis of technical analysis and surveillance one accused, identified as J Sivaram was arrested. On analysis of bank accounts linked it was found that Rs 18 crore have been subsequently transferred in these accounts,” he said.

Tiwari said Rs 18 crore “invested” by the victims were deposited in four accounts of Sutrulla Xpress Private Limited, registered in the name of J Sivaram, who is a director of the firm. The office space at Avoor Muthiah Street in New Washermanpet, Chennai, was leased by Sivaram in the name of Sutrulla Xpress Private Limited, Tiwari said.

What is the current status of the investigation?

A look-out circular has been issued against the directors of Hibox, who are currently abroad.

Tiwari said the role of Easebuzz and PhonePe are under investigation. “Involvement of Easebuzz and PhonePe employees cannot be ruled out,” he said.

Several YouTubers and social media influencers have been asked to join the investigation.