Hyderabad: A 35-year-old man from Hyderabad was allegedly duped of Rs 36.30 lakh in an investment fraud after scammers claiming to be representatives of Barclays International Group promised him a profit of Rs 7 crore.
The incident occurred in Malkajgiri Cybercrime Police limits. On January 30, the victim was added to a WhatsApp group named “Barclays.” The administrators shared trading tips, screenshots of profits and alleged Securities and Exchanges Board of India (SEBI) registration certificates to gain his trust.
One of the scammers, identified as Sanya, claimed to be a trader and contacted the victim. She shared links to trading websites with the victim and persuaded him to join the platform. Convinced, the man made an initial investment of Rs 50,000 and received some profit.
The victim was encouraged to make more investments in institutional stocks and IPOs. Soon, the website displayed a profit of Rs 7 crore. However, when the victim tried to withdraw the money, he wasn’t able to do so.
The scammers demanded 2 per cent of the profit as processing charges. Suspecting fraud, the victim approached the police. In his complaint, the man stated that he invested Rs 36,35,010 in 12 transactions and received only Rs 5,000 in return, suffering a net loss of Rs 36,30,010.
Based on the complaint, the Cybercrime Police registered a case. The investigation is underway, the police said.
