Police said the victim runs a packaging business for imitation jewellery in Malad and needed a loan of Rs. 10 lakh to expand his work. In June 2025, he downloaded a mobile app and applied for the loan.

Updated: August 14, 2025 3:46 PM IST

Cyber fraud: Mumbai businessman duped of lakhs in PM Mudra Yojana loan scam; Here's how he was cheated on pretext of...

In Mumbai’s Malad area, a local businessman has become the victim of a big online scam. Three men allegedly tricked him out of several lakhs by promising to get him a loan under the Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana (PMMY). The accused, Nitin Kumar, Ashwin Kumar, and Dayashankar Mishra have been booked by the North Region Cyber Cell for cheating and under the IT Act.

Police said the businessman, who runs a packaging business for imitation jewellery in Malad, was looking for a Rs. 10 lakh loan to grow his work. In June 2025, he downloaded a mobile app and applied for the loan.

A few days later, he got a call from a man introducing himself as Nitin Kumar, who claimed to be from the PM MUDRA Yojana office at BKC, Mumbai. Nitin told him that his Rs. 10 lakh loan had been approved. He then asked for personal documents and the loan application and even sent an approval letter on WhatsApp to make it look genuine.

Soon after the first call, Nitin started asking the businessman for money, claiming it was for processing fees and other charges. Around this time, another man, Ashwin Kumar, called the victim, saying that Nitin had given him his contact. Pretending to be a State Bank employee, Ashwin even sent a photo of his ID card on WhatsApp to win the businessman’s trust.

Using different excuses, Ashwin kept asking for urgent payments. The victim ended up sending Rs. 9,53,177 to several bank accounts. To arrange the money, he also borrowed from friends, who sent another Rs. 46,251 to the accused’s accounts.

Despite repeated promises, no loan money was ever credited. Soon after, both Nitin and Ashwin stopped answering his calls.

The victim then contacted another person whose account he had sent money to. This man introduced himself as Dayashankar Mishra from a finance company. When told about the fraud, Dayashankar claimed he could still arrange the loan but only if more “processing fees” were paid. Trusting him, the businessman transferred another Rs. 18,73,700. Still, no loan was given.

It was then the victim realised he had been scammed. He went to the local police and the North Regional Cyber Cell, which registered an FIR. Police are now tracking the bank accounts where the money went, and the investigation is ongoing.

(With IANS inputs)




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