HYDERABAD: A 54-year-old housewife from Hyderabad has fallen victim to a sophisticated online fraud, losing Rs 1.61 crore to scammers promising lucrative returns through part-time jobs and cryptocurrency trading.
The victim lodged a complaint with the Hyderabad Cybercrime police, detailing a well-orchestrated scheme that began with a seemingly harmless WhatsApp message which turned out into a series of coercive financial demands.
The fraud began on June 2, when the woman received a WhatsApp message inviting her to join a part-time job via Telegram, involving tasks such as rating hotels.
The scammers, posing as representatives of reputed companies, quickly shifted her to an “economic task” requiring investment in cryptocurrency trading. Initially, the victim paid Rs 2,000 and received Rs 2,800 in return, building trust in the scheme. Encouraged, she invested Rs 5,000, followed by Rs 42,000 and Rs 1,48,000 for subsequent tasks, as directed by the fraudsters.
The scammers then claimed she had made errors, demanding escalating payments to “correct” mistakes or unlock higher returns. They coerced her into paying Rs 2,98,000, promising Rs 7,80,375, and later Rs 6,00,000 to boost her credit score, with a promised return of Rs 16,80,375. Further demands included Rs 11,69,262 for another alleged mistake, Rs 8,51,891 as a tax, and Rs 37,24,404 to “upgrade” her account level. When told she needed to pay an additional Rs 50,00,000 to correct yet another error and Rs 45,00,000 as service charges, she complied, driven by assurances of recovering her investment.