For nearly two years, the money arrived on time, until one January morning it didn’t.
At the start of 2025, when most people were planning their finances for the year, Shobhan Kumar, a 37-year-old doctor from Hyderabad, saw a longstanding investment collapse. It started with a missed payment, followed by unanswered calls. Within days, the investment that had appeared reliable for nearly two years vanished — taking with it more than ₹1.5 crore, almost all his savings and the sense of financial stability he had painstakingly built over time.
Until then, Shobhan had been cautious with money. Like many salaried professionals, he stuck to fixed deposits, recurring deposits and equities. But rising expenses nudged him to explore alternatives.
While researching online, he came across invoice discounting platforms, marketed as low-risk investments backed by corporate invoices rather than market speculation.
His search led him to two prominent platforms, one of them Falcon. “The company appeared everywhere: in search results, social media feeds and online reviews. They had very good ratings and the website showed well-known corporate clients. There was no red flag,” he recalls.
