His trading account later reflected a balance of $1,03,764 (approximately ₹83 lakh).
Hyderabad: Three citizens from different professional backgrounds across Cyberabad collectively lost over ₹80 lakh to cyber fraud in the last one week.
A businessman from Miyapur lost ₹37.8 lakh after being lured into investing on a fake website of an MNC financial services company. He was introduced to the platform by two individuals. After an initial investment of ₹40,000, the fraudsters showed a fake profit of ₹4,000. Encouraged, the victim made multiple subsequent transfers totaling ₹37.81 lakh to various bank accounts provided by the accused.
His trading account later reflected a balance of $1,03,764 (approximately ₹83 lakh). When he attempted to withdraw $6,520 (₹5 lakh), he was told to pay a 30 per cent “income tax” citing fake RBI guidelines. Believing this, he paid an additional ₹26 lakh toward “tax” and “conversion fees.” When the platform later demanded another 10 per cent “conversion fee,” the victim realised he had been duped.
A retired bank manager from Kompally paid up ₹20.32 lakh to fraudsters posing as financial advisers after being added to a WhatsApp group and promised guidance in stock trading.
He was contacted by a person introducing himself as “Chris Harper,” who directed him to a fraudulent website and helped him create an account. Following Harper’s instructions, he transferred ₹2.5 lakh and later ₹15 lakh and ₹2.82 lakh to different accounts.
Fake profits were displayed on his dashboard, and he was told to invest in an IPO for 2,000 shares at ₹2.5 lakh. When the fraudsters began demanding more payments, he grew suspicious and discovered that the site was fake.
An IT employee from Gachibowli lost ₹2.65 lakh after being deceived by a fraudulent platform impersonating the reputed US-based firm. Between September and October, the victim transferred multiple amounts ranging from ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakh to accounts belonging to different entities.
The platform later displayed fake profits worth ₹12.86 lakh and demanded a “refundable security deposit” of ₹17.6 lakh to unlock withdrawals. Only ₹57,552 was ever returned. Upon verification, the victim discovered that the domain had no connection to the legitimate firm.
