HYDERABAD: A 40-year-old private employee in Hyderabad was duped of Rs 8.17 lakhs by cyber fraudsters who promised to help him with online trading.
After receiving several random calls, including on Telegram, the victim was convinced of joining a group and engaging in trading. He was then added to social media groups where he was encouraged to invest money as others in the group supposedly gained profits.
Initially, the victim also made profits and gained trust in the cyber fraudsters. He then started investing more money by taking bank loans and hand loans by following the trading tips given to him.
But after a while, the victim was unable to withdraw funds from the trading app. He also noticed that although his trades were in profit, the system would automatically close the trades. When he asked the fraudsters, he was told that the losses in his trade were due to the system’s automated process.
However, the scammers allegedly manipulated the app from the back end and caused his trades to close in losses even if they were in profit.
When the victim inquired with the fraudsters about his Rs 8.17 lakh investment, they pressured him to transfer more funds to recover his losses. He then approached his friend for a loan and explained his situation. “His friend immediately alerted him that this was a fraudulent trading scheme. Victim made an online complaint for help,” said police.