'Social trade' scam: All you need to know about online fraud of Rs 3,700 crore

The portal was launched in August 2015 and offered four different ‘packages' to the investors to earn money. Photo: ABP News

NOIDA: Busting an online fraud to the tune of Rs 3,700 crore, the Uttar Pradesh police have arrested three persons alleged to have duped nearly 7 lakh people through an online portal 'socialtrade.biz'. The 'investors' were cheated under a scheme named Social Trade. How did 'social trade' work?

• The police arrested three persons- Anubhav Mittal, Sridhar Prasad and Mahesh Dayal from Sector 63 in Noida and seized nearly Rs 500 crore from them.
• The accused used to run a portal 'socialtrade.biz' under which an investor had to pay anything between Rs 5,750 to Rs 57,500 in the company's account to become the member and earn Rs 5 per click.
• The portal was launched in August 2015 and offered four different ‘packages' to the investors to earn money.
• After paying the money to the company, the investors were asked to like pages and click on the links they were sent.
• The company claimed it earned Rs 6 for every click and gave Rs 5 of it to the investors. However, the links sent by the company were fake, police said.
• The firm was registered under the name of Ablaze Info Solutions Pvt Ltd. in Noida and the accused used to constantly change the portal's name.
• So far the firm defrauded over 6.5 lakh people collecting around Rs 3,700 crore, police said.
• Anubhav Mittal, who is said to be the kingpin, holds a B.Tech degree and hails from Ghaziabad. Prasad is from Visakhapatnam and Dayal is from Mathura in Uttar Pradesh.

• Besides seizing Rs 500 crore from a bank, police have seized various documents including the balance sheet of the company, list of directors and other officials and list of investors.

(With inputs from agencies)