Friendship turns costly: Bengaluru student caught in Rs70 million scam

Dubai: What began as an act of trust between friends has spiralled into serious legal trouble for an engineering student in Bengaluru, whose bank account was allegedly used to route cyber fraud transactions worth nearly Rs 7 crore (Rs70 million).

According to a police complaint, the student, enrolled at a reputed engineering college in the city, had been friends for nearly a year with a man identified as Ayush, NDTV reported.

In November 2025, Ayush allegedly told the student that his own bank account had been blocked due to insufficient balance.

He then requested temporary access to the student’s bank account, claiming it was needed for financial transactions.

Believing he was helping a friend in difficulty, the student reportedly handed over sensitive banking materials linked to his Karnataka Gramin Bank account.

These included an ATM-linked Airtel SIM card, along with net banking credentials such as the user ID and password.

Police sources said the documents were sent via post, after which Ayush confirmed receipt through WhatsApp messages.

Months later, the student was contacted by his bank regarding unusually large and suspicious transactions flagged in his account.

Investigators said nearly Rs7 crore had been transferred through the account, with authorities suspecting links to organised cyber fraud activity.

The bank account was immediately blocked following the detection of the transactions.

Realising that his account had allegedly been misused for cybercrime operations, the student approached the police.

A complaint has since been registered at the North Division Cyber Police Station, with Ayush and others named for allegedly using the account to conduct fraudulent transactions.

Authorities are continuing their investigation into the money trail and the individuals involved.