80-Yr-Old In Hyderabad Loses Rs 35 L In Fake Trading App
80-year-old retired employee from Madinaguda was duped of Rs 35 lakh by fraudsters running a fake online trading platform
HYDERABAD: An 80-year-old retired employee from Madinaguda was duped of Rs 35 lakh by fraudsters running a fake online trading platform. The Cyberabad cybercrime police have registered a case and begun an investigation.
According to the complaint filed on October 30, the victim, a resident of My Home Jewel in Miyapur, was added to a WhatsApp group by a woman identified as Manisha Gupta. The group claimed to assist investors in stock trading through the app, allegedly promoted by a man named Aarav Gupta, who posed as the “Chief Investment Officer”. Another member, Meena Joshi, guided the victim in setting up her account and transferring funds.
Believing the platform to be legitimate, the victim initially transferred Rs 10,000 from her bank account. Over the next few weeks, she made several deposits as instructed, totalling Rs 35,00,500. The group shared screenshots of “high profits” and assured her that withdrawals could be made anytime.
However, when she later tried to withdraw her funds, she was told to pay an additional Rs 7 lakh as a “mandatory code charge”. After this, the group members stopped responding, and the trading app became inaccessible. Realising she had been cheated, the victim lodged a complaint with the Cyberabad cybercrime police. A case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) read with 3(5) of the BNS and Section 66-D of the IT Act, 2000–2008. Police are tracing the suspects.
