Hyderabad: A 27-year-old individual, Gurdit Singh, resident of Punjab, was arrested by Hyderabad’s cybercrime team on charges of Rs 86.65 lakh investment fraud.
According to the police, they received a complaint from a 64-year-old resident of Hyderabad stating that in April, he received a WhatsApp message offering an opportunity to earn high profits through trading in Institutional Stocks, Over-the-Counter (OTC) trades and IPOs under the Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB) quota.
The message promised profits ranging from 2 to 20 percent on institutional stocks and 10-80 percent on OTC trades.
The victim was lured into depositing money into an SMC Ace app, but when he tried to withdraw the amount, the app stopped working.
The victim had been investing larger and larger sums after the scammer showed inflated profits on the app. However, he got suspicious when he failed to withdraw his money and approached the police.
A case has been registered under sections 66(C), (D) of the IT Act and under sections 111(2)(b), 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Public advisory
Police have cautioned against falling for fake investment deals that promise high returns with little risk and to only use SEBI-approved apps for investment.
Scammers gain confidence by crediting a small amount into the victim’s account and by allowing withdrawals up to a certain extent, following which they block all withdrawals, thereby cheating the victim.
