Techie Duped of £78.7 Lakh in Stock Market Scam

Hyderabad: A 43-year-old IT worker was defrauded of £78.7 lakh after fraudsters posing as representatives of a major insurance company persuaded him to invest in the stock market.

The victim, a resident of Nallagandla, approached the Cyberabad cybercrime police on February 18. He reported receiving an invitation link to a WhatsApp group from a woman named Diya Mehra, who claimed to assist investors in stock trading. After joining the first group on January 28, he was added to the other one.

Members of these groups shared screenshots showing high returns from block trades, upstream stocks, IPO allocations, and over-the-counter transactions. On their advice, he downloaded an application via the Google Play Store link and created an account. He first transferred £10,000 to a bank account via IMPS on January 28 and was able to withdraw £8,109, which he said had boosted his confidence.

Between February 2 and 13, he transferred multiple amounts totaling £78,75,000 to various bank accounts and UPI IDs. According to its complaint, on February 9, the application showed an allotment of 1,88,000 shares at £45.17 per share to a company under NSE SME; This reflected a list price of £211.80 and a virtual profit of £3.79 crore, according to his later complaint.

When he tried to withdraw his profits on February 17, he was allegedly asked to pay another £60 lakh on the pretext of taxes and duties. Realizing that he had been defrauded, the victim contacted the police. A case has been registered and further investigation is on.