HYDERABAD: A 42-year-old businessman from Narsingi lost Rs 2.24 crore in an investment fraud through a fake trading platform.
He said that on September 1, after seeing an Instagram advertisement, he joined a group which claimed to build trading skills under Prof. Aswini Merani.
Later, Priya Dharshini, posing as a group analyst, contacted him and offered to help him earn through block trading, upper circuit stocks, and IPO allotments using an institutional account.
She instructed him to download the trading app and assisted in creating an account. Following her guidance, he transferred Rs 50,000 on the same day. He was then added to a WhatsApp group where members displayed fake profits, prompting him to invest further.
On September 23, when he tried to withdraw funds, he was told an IPO had been allotted in his name and further payments were required.
He transferred additional amounts, including Rs 2 crore, before realising he had been defrauded. In total, he transferred Rs 2.24 crore to the fraudsters’ bank accounts and UPI IDs.
The police said that with timely reporting on national cybercrime reporting portal and coordination with the Cyber Crime police successfully kept Rs 4.33 lakh on hold. This amount will be refunded after completion of the legal process.
Based on his complaint, police registered a case and investigation is on.