HYDERABAD: In one of the biggest cyber frauds in Telangana, a city-based businessman lost 2 crore in just two months. Luring him with an offer of hefty returns, the unidentified fraudsters laid a trap through social media platforms and made him invest in their fictitious crypto trading portals.
A few days ago, businessman K Rakesh (name changed) from Ghatkesar approached Rachakonda police claiming that between March 6-May 17, he lost 2 crore through crypto investment.
In his statement to police, Rakesh claimed that while browsing through his Facebook pages on March 6, he saw an advertisement on bitcoin trading. In the advertisement, he saw a link and clicked on it.
Rakesh was redirected to WhatsApp chat page with a bitcoin website link and instructions to register himself on the website.
Accordingly, he registered himself in the link as per the instructions received in the chat. “I downloaded Binance cryptocurrency exchange app to buy USDT cryptocurrency. From March 6 till May 17, I purchased USDT worth 2.06 crore and transferred the same to various cryptocurrency wallet addresses given by the fraudsters,” he recalled. “On the webpage link provided by the fraudsters, the complainant was able to see his investment doubling and tripling in the virtual wallet. However, whenever he wanted to withdraw it, the fraudsters kept asking him to invest some more to become eligible for complete withdrawal of the amount. Finally, they made Rakesh invest towards various charges and then shut down the virtual wallet and fake website link once he refused to share more cryptocurrency links with them,” Rachakonda police said.
Rakesh, who has regional dealership of a soft drinks company, also told police that though he sensed that something was wrong after a few transactions, he kept depositing money hoping that he will get close to 10 crore within a quick time.
“I took bank loans, obtained hand loans from my business dealers and friends, mortgaged gold and took loan to invest in crypto. Please help me in recovering the lost amount. My life depends on it,” Rakesh told police.
Police registered a case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC and 66 of the IT Act. “A day before Rakesh approached us, a 46-year-old worker from Balapur came with a similar complaint reporting 12.3 lakh loss. We have written to the the crypto exchange company to get details. But, it is next to impossible to identify the receiver and recover the amount lost in investment frauds,” a police official said.
A few days ago, businessman K Rakesh (name changed) from Ghatkesar approached Rachakonda police claiming that between March 6-May 17, he lost 2 crore through crypto investment.
In his statement to police, Rakesh claimed that while browsing through his Facebook pages on March 6, he saw an advertisement on bitcoin trading. In the advertisement, he saw a link and clicked on it.
Rakesh was redirected to WhatsApp chat page with a bitcoin website link and instructions to register himself on the website.
Accordingly, he registered himself in the link as per the instructions received in the chat. “I downloaded Binance cryptocurrency exchange app to buy USDT cryptocurrency. From March 6 till May 17, I purchased USDT worth 2.06 crore and transferred the same to various cryptocurrency wallet addresses given by the fraudsters,” he recalled. “On the webpage link provided by the fraudsters, the complainant was able to see his investment doubling and tripling in the virtual wallet. However, whenever he wanted to withdraw it, the fraudsters kept asking him to invest some more to become eligible for complete withdrawal of the amount. Finally, they made Rakesh invest towards various charges and then shut down the virtual wallet and fake website link once he refused to share more cryptocurrency links with them,” Rachakonda police said.
Rakesh, who has regional dealership of a soft drinks company, also told police that though he sensed that something was wrong after a few transactions, he kept depositing money hoping that he will get close to 10 crore within a quick time.
“I took bank loans, obtained hand loans from my business dealers and friends, mortgaged gold and took loan to invest in crypto. Please help me in recovering the lost amount. My life depends on it,” Rakesh told police.
Police registered a case under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 419 (cheating by impersonation) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC and 66 of the IT Act. “A day before Rakesh approached us, a 46-year-old worker from Balapur came with a similar complaint reporting 12.3 lakh loss. We have written to the the crypto exchange company to get details. But, it is next to impossible to identify the receiver and recover the amount lost in investment frauds,” a police official said.
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