India has uncovered one of the largest online investment frauds in its history, involving the website xpo.ru, which lured more than 3,22,000 Indian investors into a professionally designed scam promising guaranteed profits through crypto, forex, metals and mutual-fund–style schemes.
Investigators estimate that the operators behind xpo.ru defrauded investors of over ₹3,100 crore (more than $345 million at ₹89.64 per USD).
xpo.ru Claimed 47 Million Users — Reality Was Approximately 470,000 (Registered Users)
The fraudulent website xpo.ru portrayed itself as a global financial trading platform. It marketed:
- 47 million global users
- $4.3 billion in fund management
- Worldwide operations in crypto and forex
- “High-profit guaranteed” trading indexes
However, cyber investigations revealed that:
- Only 470,000 genuine users ever existed
- Actual deposits totaled around ₹3,100 crore
- xpo.ru used fake dashboards, manipulated trading charts, and edited profit screenshots
- All performance data inside xpo.ru was fabricated
This was a classic Ponzi-style online scam.
How xpo.ru Trapped Investors: Fake Trading Indexes & Unrealistic Profits
One of the major traps on xpo.ru was its “INDEX” section, which advertised high-performing strategies to make the platform appear legitimate.
These indexes were shown inside xpo.ru:
XPO Crypto Index Strategists (Inside xpo.ru)
Displayed to attract Indian investors with fake monthly returns.
1. Alpha Union — @ALUN
- Price: $101.16899
- Weekly Return: 3.96%
- Monthly Return: 14.96%
2. Cloud Trader — @CLDT
- Price: $3.45968
- Weekly Return: 3.54%
- Monthly Return: 13.34%
3. Zhangdang — @ZHND
- Price: $177.87597
- Weekly Return: 3.32%
- Monthly Return: 13.36%
4. Super Crypto — @SUCP
- Price: $1.28306
- Weekly Return: 3.12%
- Monthly Return: 13.15%
These numbers were completely fake, designed to make xpo.ru appear profitable and trustworthy.
XPO Forex & CFD Strategists (Displayed on xpo.ru)
1. Dimond FX Index — @DIMX
- Price: $3.23456
- Weekly Return: 3.17%
- Monthly Return: 10.53%
2. Moscow Mule — @MSMU
- Price: $3.75231
- Weekly Return: 4.72%
- Monthly Return: 15.58%
3. BYK Capital — @BCAP
- Price: $53.96433
- Weekly Return: 3.58%
- Monthly Return: 14.22%
4. Halloween Trade — @HATRD
- Price: $3.02317
- Weekly Return: 4.56%
- Monthly Return: 12.06%
These “strategists” were used by xpo.ru to fool people into believing real traders were generating huge profits.
FIU Not Registered | Mutual Fund & Crypto Schemes Used to Lure Investors
Authorities confirmed:
- xpo.ru was not registered with FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit) India
- It falsely advertised itself as a global investment company
- Used mutual fund–like schemes, crypto plans, forex indexes, and metals trading to show stable monthly profits
- Many early users actually earned money — classic Ponzi model
- New users fell into the trap after seeing artificial profits
People were promised returns that legitimate financial markets never guarantee.
xpo.ru Users Could Not Withdraw Money — OTP Stopped Working
Thousands of investors complained that:
- Withdrawals were suddenly blocked
- OTP stopped arriving on their phones
- Verification failed repeatedly
- xpo.ru frequently changed servers
- The operators shifted to Cloudflare to hide the real server location
Cloudflare detail added based on user intel (no cyber police attribution included).
Website Redesigned Professionally After March 2023
In March 2023, xpo.ru underwent a major upgrade:
- The interface became more polished and premium
- Available in English and Russian
- Displayed professional crypto & forex indexes
- Added fake “global investor map”
The redesign played a huge role in attracting Indian investors nationwide.
Mastermind Identified as Sandeep Shikhar | Five Arrested
Bharatpur Police identified the main mastermind:
✔️ Sandeep Shikhar
He:
- Got xpo.ru developed
- Managed operations
- Controlled fake indexes and dashboards
Sandeep is still absconding, and a manhunt is underway.
Five accomplices have already been arrested.
Assets Seized So Far
Police have recovered:
- ₹40 lakh cash
(≈ $44,610) - $43,000 crypto
(≈ ₹38.54 lakh) - Five luxury cars worth ₹3 crore
(≈ $334,700)- Mercedes
- Toyota Fortuner
- SUV
- Two Scorpios
Total recovery ≈ ₹3.8 crore (≈ $424,000).
Dizicx.com: Same Gang Defrauded 9,000 Investors for ₹500 Crore
Investigations uncovered that the same network running xpo.ru also operated Dizicx.com, another fake trading website.
- Over 9,000 investors lost money
- Total fraud ₹500 crore
(≈ $55.76 million) - Servers were kept abroad to avoid regulatory tracking
Both platforms were interconnected and operated as a large Ponzi-style ecosystem.
More Than $350 Million Online Investment Scam in India
Combined with manipulated data, fake indexes, and professional website design, xpo.ru stands at the center of an online scam exceeding $350 million, making it one of the largest digital financial crimes ever exposed in India.
The search for mastermind Sandeep Shikhar is ongoing.
