Two From City Lose Rs 3.99 Crore to Investment Fraud

Hyderabad: Two city residents in separate complaints with the cybercrime police that they had lost more than Rs 3.99 crore to online investment frauds earlier this week.

In one case, a 64-year-old businessman alleged that he was cheated of Rs 3,64,34,437 through an online trading platform. He said he was first contacted by a woman identifying herself as Meera on Facebook on November 23, an investor associated with the online shopping app. She shared the link to a platform and persuaded him to invest money by purchasing products listed on the app.

He was told that once the items were purchased, customers would buy them through the platform and profits or commissions would be credited to his wallet. Based on these assurances, he continued transferring money to complete orders.

The victim said in his complaint that the accused later claimed that the store and Meera’s account had been frozen and asked for a large security deposit to unfreeze the account and enable withdrawals. This made him suspicious.

He then lodged a complaint on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal on March 9. A case has been registered by the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB), and further investigation into the incident is underway.

In another case, a 49-year-old advocate from Gajularamaram told the Cyberabad cybercrime police on that he lost over Rs 34.9 lakh. The victim said he came across a Facebook advertisement about an investment scheme on February 14, and was later added to a WhatsApp group by someone identifying herself Diya Mehra, who claimed to be an adviser with well-known financial services firm.

The victim told police that he was asked to open an account on a website and began trading through the platform. He initially transferred Rs 1,99,014.16 from his account on February 18. Subsequently, he deposited additional amounts, including Rs 1,99,000, Rs 50,000 and Rs 49,000 on February 22, followed by Rs 5,00,000 on February 23, and several other transfers using different ‘charge codes’ linked to multiple bank accounts.

The complainant said the platform displayed large profits and allowed trades such as ‘upper circuit’ stocks and block trades, convincing him that it was genuine. He was later told to subscribe to an IPO. The platform showed that shares worth Rs 13,00,18,48.20 had been allotted to him and projected profits of Rs 77,81,034.67 if he invested more funds.

His attempts to withdraw later failed and he realised it was a fraud. A case was registered and further investigation into the incident is underway.