Top News

Hyderabad: A 48-year-old software engineer from Hyderabad’s Pragatinagar was duped of Rs 77 lakh in an online trading fraud from February 15 to April 13.

The scam began when the victim came across a trading advertisement on social media which promised higher returns. When the woman clicked on the link she was directed to a WhatsApp group.

The fraudsters posed as representatives of a reputed company and used its promotional strategy to gain her trust. The woman was shown fake profits made through investments. When she tried to withdraw the money, she was asked to pay for charges including channel fee, transaction and tax certificates.

Even after making the payments, fraudsters intimidated her by posing as police officials and demanded more money. Upon realising the scam, the woman approached the Cybercrime unit of the Cyberabad police and filed a complaint.

Based on the complaint, a case was registerd under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.) and 340(2) (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), read with 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).