HYDERABAD: A 58-year-old advocate from the city lost `97 lakh in an investment fraud after he invested in a fake website. He said that he accepted a Facebook friend request from a person, Ms Ritu Reddy, who claimed to be from Chennai. After casual interaction, she introduced an online trading platform — www.finalto-indus.com — which she claimed offered high returns in USD through international trading. She requested that the conversation continue via WhatsApp and began explaining investment methods in detail.
The advocate was convinced to invest, which generated some profit. Eventually, he went on to invest around Rs 97.36 lakh, raised by pledging gold and taking loans.
Funds were transferred to different accounts each time, as directed by the platform’s customer service. Later, trading was paused, citing unfavourable market conditions.
When he attempted to withdraw, he was told to deposit 20% (approximately Rs 52 lakh) as an exchange fee, which they refused to deduct from his wallet. He later realised that the fraudsters had cheated him. Based on his complaint, the Rachakonda Cybercrime police registered a case and are investigating.