HYDERABAD: Two persons working as managers in two leading MNCs in the city lost Rs 56 lakh and Rs 6 lakh respectively in two separate cases of cyber fraud. The victim in the first case was lured with investment in bitcoin trading, while the other victim was lured with buying websites at cheaper prices.
The victims, after realising that they were cheated, approached the police, following which cases were registered at the cyber crime wing of Cyberabad police.
In the first case, a 31-year-old man, who was working as a manager and residing at Kukatpally, had received communication for investment in cryptocurrency and trading. As per the instructions from the caller, who were claiming to be analysts, he created an account in a trading application "Binance" and started investing.
He invested a total of Rs 56,96,376 from September 21 to 30, and the total value, including profits, that was shown in the app was Rs 68.14 lakh. However, whenever he attempted to withdraw the amount, the trade assistants told him to pay the handling fees and only then, the funds would be released.
In another case, the victim, working as an operations manager in another MNC, was introduced to a website http://gau.busepro.com through an app called Ezoic Ads, by a friend. He was asked to pay Rs 1,000 as joining payment and to watch one video for three mins and earn Rs 40 per day.
Later, a scheme with an offer to buy 200 websites for Rs 2 lakh was shown to him. With that offer, he was told that could get a refund of Rs 1.90 lakh. With an intention to pay off his debts, he bought the websites worth Rs 6.31 lakh and paid the money to different bank accounts and payment gateways from October 2 to 10. The victim was then offered a membership to get his money instantly by paying Rs 20,000.
Further, he was told by the organisers that the victim's bank card is at risk and said that he had to pay an additional Rs 4,000. Even after he paid the additional amount, there was no response from the organisers. Realising that he was cheated, the victim approached police.