PhonePe and others under cybercrime police lens for Rs 500 crore Hibox app scam: Report

Payment aggregation platforms PhonePe and Easebuzz are allegedly under investigation by the Delhi Police’s Cyber ​​Crime Unit in connection with a well-established scam involving thousands of investors, social media influencers and around 20 entities. Business standard.

This is seen as part of an elaborate scam that reportedly defrauded nearly 30,000 people who were lured into investing in the Hibox mobile app with promises of high returns based on false assurances of a daily interest rate of 1 to 5 percent, according to Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) of Delhi Police.

These high profits range from 30 to 150 percent per month – which is exceptionally high by any measure.

Hemant Tiwari, deputy commissioner of police of IFSO, the special cell of the Delhi Police, was quoted as saying Business standard like saying that apps like PhonePe and others have failed to follow the guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India.

According to PTI, over 30,000 people have already invested in the application launched in February 2024. From February to June, investors were earning high profits, but from July, the app stopped payments due to technical glitches, GST issues, legal issues, etc.

For those who are not aware, IFSO is a specialized cybercrime investigation unit in India that works with investigative agencies. In addition to these two payment aggregators, nearly 20 companies are under investigation for money laundering involving fraud.

Notifications were also sent to many social media influencers who promoted the app. These influencers include Abhishek Malhan, Elvish Yadav, Lakshay Choudhary and Purav Jha.

The report further highlighted that the police collected almost 127 complaints regarding the Hibox app, arrested alleged kingpin Sivaram and seized ₹18 crore from four different bank accounts.

“The alleged companies disappeared after closing their offices in Noida, Uttar Pradesh,” DCP Tiwari said.