For many investors, investing in Falcon Invoice Discounting (FID) has become a financial nightmare; some have accumulated enormous credit card debt in addition to losing their entire life savings. Over the past two years, B Prakash (name changed), a techie from Bengaluru and a retired military officer, has invested over INR 3.5 crore in the platform. He even made short-term purchases with his credit card, thinking he could pay off the balance before the following billing cycle. He is currently struggling with more than INR 6 lakh in credit card debt and has nothing left.
"Over the past two years, I have invested more than INR 3.5 crore of my total life savings - including retirement funds - in Falcon. Since the platform allowed it, I also used my credit card to invest in short-term deals that lasted for about a month. Because my prior deal would be redeemed, I could pay back the credit card before the due date," Prakash says.
Attracted by the possibility of earning reward points, a doctor from North India made another investment in Falcon using his credit card. "Fortunately, I did not lose a significant amount of money because I only invested a maximum of ₹2 lakh. However, my cousin invested more than ₹50 lakh, to whom I referred the app," he said.
Many investors, like them, are now stuck in debt after using their credit cards for Falcon deals. The most startling aspect? What is the most shocking part? Investors who are affected include technicians, chartered accountants, doctors, traders, businessmen, armed forces personnel, retirees, top executives, and even company promoters.
Falcon Invoice Discounting (FID) is a peer-to-peer (P2P) platform that connects investors with businesses looking for short-term funding by providing cash against invoices. FID has recently come under scrutiny after numerous investors reported significant financial losses as a result of the platform's abrupt closure. The Cyberabad police have filed multiple cases against FID management, including its chairman, Amardeep Kumar, on charges of fraud and breach of trust. Investigations are ongoing to determine the scope of the alleged scam and recover the funds.
"There were many deals of 30 days and 48 days, and those with high-limit cards swiped higher amounts as the payments were coming in before they had to repay their credit card," said an investor from a social media group where FID investors have been sharing their experience.
Some investors who used credit cards to fund their deals attempted to dispute the transactions with their banks, but were unsuccessful. Because they had authenticated the payments, the banks refused to accept their claims until the police declared the transactions fraudulent.
Utkarsh, a young techie at a major ride-hailing app, began investing in Falcon based on his in-laws' recommendation. He eventually invested ₹15 lakh. "I had been investing in Falcon for the past two years after my in-laws recommended it, so I had no reason to suspect foul play. But now I can't access the app or website," he said.
He further added, “After some employees introduced him to Falcon, a senior executive from an Andhra Pradesh-based company fell into the trap as well. He has invested in deals ranging from 45 to 180 days over the last two years. "Initially, I had doubts about it, but as they were honouring all the payments on time, I felt reassured and kept investing until January when they started defaulting on payments.”
With the platform unresponsive and payments stalled, thousands of investors are scrambling for answers, hoping to recover their funds through legal action or intervention.
