HYDERABAD: Cybercrime police have registered a financial fraud case based on a complaint by a private employee who lost over Rs 33 lakh in an investment scam.
According to the victim, he clicked on an advertisement on Instagram, which led to a WhatsApp group in which the participants presented themselves as trading brokers. Initially unsure, he was convinced to invest by a representative he identified as Saanvi who assured high returns on investments.
The victim transferred money to the accounts provided by the fraudsters, and over time, this amount grew to Rs 33,67,062. The scammers, posing as trading experts, obtained personal details like Aadhaar and PAN numbers, which they used to create a fake VIP trading account. They manipulated the victim into investing further by promising discounted trades and creating false urgency around various IPOs. The complaint said that they also claimed to be associated with Wells Fargo.
To entice him to invest further, the fraudsters showed Rs 1,28,52,000 in his account, but the victim faced difficulties withdrawing funds.
Initially, Saanvi refused the request to withdraw Rs 33 lakh, citing decreases in account value. Later, the victim was informed that to process a withdrawal, an upfront payment of 30% from the profit was required. He agreed to pay Rs 14,22,740.71 and other denominations of payments totaling Rs 33,53,062 to facilitate the withdrawal, to no avail.