Medchal Retiree Loses Rs.93 Lakh to Fake Trading Scam

Hyderabad: A 70-year-old retired private employee from Medchal lost over Rs.93 lakh to cyber fraudsters who duped him through a fake investment and trading platform. According to the Cyberabad cybercrime wing police who booked a complaint, the victim, a resident of Athvelly in Medchal, had responded to an advertisement on July 17 and joined a WhatsApp group which claimed to train people in trading and investments.

The group was led by a person identifying himself as Rajakumar, while a woman named Nikita Sharma introduced herself as a ‘group analyst’ associated with the organisation. She took him through the process and, on August 26, the victim transferred Rs.2 lakh. Under her continuous guidance, he kept increasing his investment, eventually reaching Rs.30 lakh. “When he expressed a desire to stop trading, he was persuaded to raise the amount further, being told that partnerships continued only for those who maintained a minimum of Rs,50 lakh,” an official from the cybercrime police said.

The complainant increased his investment to Rs.93,07,417, transferred through 11 separate transactions into 10 different bank accounts between August 26 and October 13. When he attempted to withdraw Rs.20 lakh on October 8, he was informed that the company had allotted him shares worth Rs.2.69 crore in an IPO and demanded additional payments to clear ‘dues’.

When he refused, the accused stopped responding. After discussing with his family, the victim discovered that the trading application and SEBI approval documents shared with him were forged. The profits shown on the app, amounting to Rs.1.5 crore, were virtual and not real.

Telangana cops detain juvenile linked to 100 cyber scams

Hyderabad: The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau and Nizamabad district cops in a joint operation detained a juvenile for involvement in about 100 cyber frauds across the country, including six in Telangana. The juvenile was stated to be illiterate but had trained himself to use online services to defraud hundreds of victims, the TGCSB disclosed.

The juvenile revealed that he searched the genuine profiles over Facebook, copied their friends list. Some of the selected pictures were used to create fake profiles. At the time of arrest, the juvenile had more than 200 profiles of senior IAS, IPS, IRS officers and other prominent personalities in his mobile phone.

A special team from TGCSB and Nizamabad district police detained the minor from his native place at Ramsin, Rajasthan, and brought him to the city were he has been booked in Crime 268 of 2025. He was lodged in a juvenile home on Tuesday,

The TGCSB was acting on a complaint from 62-year-old retired teacher from Nizamabad who stated that on July 15 this year he received a message from a man posing as a DIG, Shikha Goel, TGSCB director, said. The minor told the complainant of a CRPF officer who wanted to sell his furniture and offered to mediate.

Then, the minor pretended to be the CRPF, sent pictures of furniture and quoted ₹1.2 lakh. After negotiations, the complainant transferred Rs.50,000, and told him he would pay the remaining `30,000 after the furniture was delivered. The complainant neither received a refund nor the furniture, which led him to complain to the Nizamabad III Town Police, Shikha Goel said.

The TGCSB data analysis team took up the probe as there were similar complaints. The TGCSB was able to establish the identity of the accused, Shikha Goel said. Following this, the police apprehended the minor and seized his mobile phone used in offences, Shikha Goel said.

During investigation, the juvenile told the police that he was inspired by stories of many young people committing cybercrimes and earning lot of money. He had approached his friend to create fake profiles. He then used the modus operandi he used to cheat the Nizamabad resident against other targets.

Turkayamjal man loses ₹8.7 lakh in crypto investment scam

Hyderabad: A self-employed person from Turkayamjal lost Rs.8.7 lakh to a cryptocurrency investment scam that began with a fake online part-time job offer. The victim received a WhatsApp message from an unidentified person offering payment for completing Google review tasks.

After receiving small payouts, he was added to a Telegram group which he assumed to be part of a legitimate company. Members in the group were posing as investors and sharing screenshots of how they were earning high profits. The victim was then asked to make advance payments to complete the assigned tasks and correct fabricated transaction errors.

Despite repeated assurances that his money would be refunded with profits, he was continuously manipulated into sending more money. The scammers later threatened him with account freezes, loan recovery actions, and credit score issues to extract further payments. The victim then approached the Rachakonda cybercrime police.

Nacharam man loses ₹9.2 lakh in online job scam

Hyderabad: A self-employed man from Nacharam fell victim to a sophisticated online job scam, losing Rs.9.2 lakh to fraudsters posing as recruiters from a reputed IT company.

According to police, the victim received multiple calls from individuals claiming to represent an IT firm’s hiring division. They said they had accessed his resume through employment platforms and offered him a position as an associate software engineer with an annual package of ₹4 lakh.

The scammers first demanded Rs.3 lakh as registration fee. Later, additional amounts were sought under various reasons, like Rs.3 lakh for background verification, Rs.1.7 lakh for final processing, and Rs.1.5 lakh for offer letter release. When the victim did not receive any official correspondence or job confirmation, he realised he was defrauded, Rachakonda cybercrime police said.

Kompally businessman loses ₹8.3 lakh in fake stock trading scam

Hyderabad: A 52-year-old businessman from Kompally lost Rs.8.3 lakh after being lured into investing through a fake stock trading application shared by fraudsters posing as agents of an online stock brokerage firm. The victim told the Cyberabad cybercrime police on Monday that he had been regularly trading on the firm. He received a call from ‘Vikas Chaudhary’, who claimed to be a stock broker, and introduced him to two others – Tarun and Vinod – who posed as agents of the firm.

They advised the victim to download a mobile application called Trade Wealth Security via a WhatsApp link and asked him to transfer money to certain bank accounts. Once he deposited the funds, Vikas began operating the trades and regularly shared profit and loss updates.

After a few transactions, the accused informed the victim that he had incurred a loss of about Rs.1 crore. The complainant consulted his son and realised he had been defrauded. He contacted his bank, which advised him to approach the cybercrime police.

The victim by then had transferred Rs.8,95,000 to various bank accounts. Only Rs.56,181 was returned to him, while the app displayed a fake ‘virtual profit’ of Rs.20 lakh to induce further payments.