Two businessmen from Hyderabad have been defrauded of a staggering sum close to Rs 2 crore in sophisticated online trading scams. The fraudsters lured the victims with promises of extraordinary profits through counterfeit cryptocurrency and stock trading platforms, police confirmed on Monday.
Modus Operandi of the Fraudsters
The cybercriminals employed a well-coordinated strategy to gain trust and then siphon off funds. In the first case, a 37-year-old resident of Hayath Nagar was added to a WhatsApp group in the first week of November. This group was managed by an individual using a United Kingdom phone number.
After joining, the victim was instructed to register on a website named "iexsinfq.com". Inside the group, he was bombarded with fabricated screenshots showing other members earning massive returns on their investments. Convinced by this orchestrated show, he began depositing money, which was immediately converted to the cryptocurrency USDT.
To build further confidence, the scammers allowed a small test withdrawal of Rs 4,611. Once hooked, the victim transferred over Rs 70 lakh across the last three weeks of November into various bank accounts. When he later attempted to access his supposed profits, the fraudsters demanded an additional Rs 44.5 lakh for "tax" payments before freezing his account entirely. His total loss amounted to Rs 1.16 crore.
A Similar Tale of Deception in Kukatpally
In a parallel incident reported to the Cyberabad police, a 49-year-old entrepreneur from Kukatpally fell prey to an identical scheme. He was approached on WhatsApp by a woman from his own community, who then guided him to a fake portal called "etoroxm.cc".
Between November 8 and December 8, he invested a total of Rs 83 lakh into this platform. The fraudsters made a single, small repayment of Rs 18,888 to mimic legitimacy. Subsequently, they demanded an extra Rs 24 lakh to "unlock" withdrawal features. When the victim refused to pay this additional amount, all communication from the scammers ceased abruptly.
Police Action and Public Advisory
Following the complaints, the Rachakonda and Cyberabad cybercrime police units have registered two separate First Information Reports (FIRs). The cases have been filed under pertinent sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
These incidents highlight a dangerous trend of investment frauds proliferating on messaging platforms. Police urge the public to exercise extreme caution. They advise verifying the legitimacy of any trading platform through official channels, being skeptical of unsolicited investment advice on social media or WhatsApp, and remembering that promises of guaranteed high returns with low risk are classic red flags for scams.
