KHAMMAM: The lure of cryptocurrency is such that fraudsters in rural areas are now using it to trap gullible people and fleece them of their hard-earned money. P Nageshwar Rao, a resident of Kothalingala village in Kamepalli mandal of Khammam district, who invests in the stock market drew an initial crowd of investors from among his relatives by investing their money in crypto, showing them his own profits as proof. Soon, however, Nageshwar simply collected money and forgot all about returning it with interest.
On Wednesday, a group of people staged a protest in front of his house at Kothalingala village, about 20 km from Khammam town, demanding a refund of the money they had given Nageshwar Rao to invest in crypto currency, primarily bitcoin. They went to his house holding pesticide bottles and threatened to end their lives if he did not return their money. Nageshwar Rao allegedly collected about Rs 70 lakh from them, promising quick profits. Most of the victims were promised that their money would be doubled if they invested Rs 70,000. Some of the victims even borrowed money to pay Nageshwar Rao. After waiting in vain for six months for the promised profits, they took the desperate step.
Nageshwar Rao allegedly formed 10 groups in the village and collected money from the victims. Many people in Khammam, Kamepalli, Wyra, Enkoor and Madhira areas are said to have invested money.
When contacted, Kamepally Sub-Inspector A Kiran Kumar said he had not received any complaint till Wednesday evening pertaining to the incident.
K Srikanth, one of the victims from Kothalingala, told TNIE that he had invested Rs 3.5 lakh but did not receive a rupee from Nageshwar Rao. However, his friend was among the few who got back their money. Some local politicians have also reportedly invested heavily in Nageshwar Rao’s get-rich-quick crypto scheme.According to Srikanth, when some victims approached police, the latter did not take their complaint as they did not have proof in the form of receipts for the money they paid to Nageshwar Rao.