PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE /Dehradun
A 42-year-old man from Dehradun has allegedly been cheated of Rs 34.75 lakh in an online trading scam. The victim, Raja Ram Bhatt, a resident of Saraswati Vihar, has filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell Police Station in Dehradun. He said that the fraudsters contacted him through a Facebook advertisement related to share trading in December 2025.
According to the complaint, he was first added to a WhatsApp group named ‘SCSIL 302 Market Strategy Research Forum Group’. Later, he was added to another group. The group members claimed that they were associated with Standard Chartered Securities India Limited and shared stock market tips and IPO investment advice. They also showed a SEBI registration number to gain his trust.
The victim said that a woman who introduced herself as Yalini Guo guided him to download a mobile app named “SCSLPMA” from the google play store. Through this app, he completed his KYC process and started investing.
Between January 29 and February 6, 2026, he transferred a total of Rs 34.75 lakh to several bank accounts in different cities. Initially, a small withdrawal of Rs 5,000 was shown as successful, which increased his confidence. However, when he later tried to withdraw Rs 40 lakh from the app, the request was not approved.
On contacting the group members, he was asked to pay an additional Rs 10.93 lakh as a ‘service fee settlement’ to release his funds. When he refused, he was allegedly blocked from the WhatsApp group.
Realizing that he had been cheated, Bhatt lodged a complaint on the national cybercrime portal and later approached the Cyber Cell in Dehradun. The police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Information Technology Act and started an investigation.
