Kanpur: Rs 1.8 crore allegedly defrauded from a woman entrepreneur in the name of share trading was transferred to about 1,800 bank accounts across the country. Now, the cyber crime branch has started scrutinising the accounts.The money was transferred in 14 to 15 layers and investigators were connecting the links to trace the accused, police said. In a preliminary investigation, the VPN (virtual private network) of the fraudster, who contacted the entrepreneur, was found to be from Cambodia. Further information was sought with the help of the Indian cyber crime coordination centre.A few months ago, the woman entrepreneur, who lived in Indranagar, Kalyanpur, received a message about share trading on her social media account. It contained information about earning good profits. After she saw the message, a link appeared on her mobile. When she opened the link, cyber criminals added her to a group after which she started receiving messages. She invested some amount, and the cyber criminals showed her profits, following which she invested more money over three months.In Dec 2025, she tried to withdraw money, but the amount could not be withdrawn. The cyber criminals asked her to deposit 40% more of the amount. After she realised the fraud, she filed an FIR at the cyber crime branch police station.Satish Chandra Yadav, in-charge of the cyber crime branch police station, said, “The woman’s account was sent to about 1,800 bank accounts across the country. This amount was sent in 14 to 15 layers, whose chain was broken several times. Investigation is being done by connecting these chains. Amounts ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 1 lakh were sent to these accounts. Some accounts are likely to be mule accounts. The VPN number of the fraudster’s mobile who contacted the woman entrepreneur was found to be from Cambodia. This is being investigated.”
