HYDERABAD: A 42-year-old engineer from Cyberabad fell prey to a trading app fraud and lost Rs 11.30 lakh over a period of three months.
The victim had initially come across a Facebook advertisement claiming they conduct online classes to develop trading skills. He was asked to join a WhatsApp group and then asked to download an external application where he can practise trading and earn money.
As per the complainant, every day there was an online class between 8 pm and 9 pm, where they shared tips and tricks on trading in the stock market. Through the WhatsApp group, a ‘group analyst’ reached him and explained to him that he could make more money by trading in block trading, upper circuit stocks and IPO allotments through their application.
Convinced by the analyst’s plans, the complainant created an account in the app and actively traded stocks for large sums of money on the app.
More than two months into the trading classes, he was asked to invest in an IPO for Rs 12.60 lakh and when he refrained from paying the money, he was told his account would be converted to ‘default’ status and he would not be able to withdraw his money.
Later, when he approached the SEBI office, he learnt that he was duped and had lost his lifetime investment in a scam.
Following this, the complainant filed a complaint in the cyber cell and approached the cybercrime police station. The police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.
Cybercrime police caution people to study SEBI rules and regulations and to operate only through a Demat account with an authorised broking agency to avoid cyber frauds.