Crackdown on investment fraud: Duo held for cheating Hyderabad man of Rs 21 lakh

Hyderabad: The Cyber Crime Police successfully uncovered three cases last week, leading to the arrest of four offenders across multiple states. The investigation revealed the pan-India spread of cybercriminal networks.

Out of the four arrests, three were linked to trading fraud, and one smishing fraud.

Cyber Crime PS, Cyberabad, also successfully processed and obtained 42 refund orders in 26 cases from the court for an amount of Rs 21,98,753 to be refunded to victims.

Here is a notable case from Hyderabad that was cracked by the police:

Over Rs 21 lakh lost in investment scam

Cyberabad police registered a case based on a complaint from a city resident who was cheated of Rs 21,93,300 in an online investment scam involving a fake stock-trading system promoted through Telegram, WhatsApp groups and other social media channels.

Modus Operandi

The victim stated that he received a message on Telegram from a girl named Ben Sasha, who introduced herself and later persuaded him to participate in Forex trading.

Although he was initially hesitant due to his limited experience in the Indian stock market, she guided him to perform ‘paper trades’ using an app called SLBRGFNT, downloaded from the Play Store, and helped him create an account with login credentials received from support@spraedex.com.

After earning notional profits during the trial phase, he gained confidence and began investing real money. All trading support and communication were conducted through a Telegram channel named Spreadex Global Ltd, where he was told that trading would be in US dollars.

Since he could not deposit funds directly into the trading account, he transferred money to bank accounts provided by them, which they claimed would be converted and credited.

Initially, he invested Rs 50,000 and, following their trading advice, earned profits and successfully withdrew Rs 5,000 twice. Gaining further trust, he continued depositing money in instalments, ultimately investing Rs 10 lakh, while the girl also allegedly added Rs 10 lakh to his account.

However, when he attempted to withdraw his funds, he was asked to raise withdrawal requests through the Telegram channel and was subsequently informed that he needed to pay a 30 per cent tax on profits (Rs 2,68,000), a security deposit (Rs 5,75,000), and a currency conversion fee (Rs 3,60,000).

After making these payments, he was told that his CIBIL score was insufficient and that an additional Rs 15 lakh was required to ‘improve’ it. When he questioned the legitimacy of these demands and expressed his intention to file a complaint, the suspects deleted his chat history and trading account. They even showed him a virtual profit of Rs 21,93,300 in the app and demanded more money. Upon further inquiry, he realised it was a fraud and approached the police.

The fraudulent application falsely displayed virtual profits and a virtual balance of Rs 21,93,300, which were entirely fabricated to induce the victim into further payments.

During the investigation, it was confirmed that the victim had transferred a total of Rs 21,93,300 from his HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank accounts into various beneficiary accounts. A single transaction amounting to Rs 90,000 was traced to one of the key beneficiary bank accounts linked to the fraudulent operation.

Based on technical evidence and credible information, a team of Cybercrime PS verified the beneficiary account addresses and apprehended two accused involved in providing bank accounts for the fraud.

In this case, two accused, identified as Thummaluru Sudhakar Reddy and Thummaluru Raghunatha Reddy, were arrested.

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