Hyderabad: A 70-year-old retired private employee lost Rs 93 lakh in a trading scam in Hyderabad’s Medchal area. The incident occurred on July 17.
According to the Cyberabad cybercrime unit, the victim came across an advertisement on WhatsApp, which claimed to train people in trading in investment.
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.
Guided by Nikita, the victim continued to increase his investment, eventually reaching Rs 30 lakh. The cybercrime police further stated that the victim had initially wanted to stop trading; however, the fraudsters persuaded him to increase his investment, claiming that those who invested Rs 50 lakh would benefit from high profits.
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.
