Two cyber investment rackets cheating people of Rs 1.64 crore busted

In two separate cases, the Hyderabad police arrested seven people on Monday for allegedly duping city residents of at least Rs 1.11 crore via cyber investment fraud. Apart from these two cases, the accused were booked in 19 similar fraud cases in Telangana, through which they amassed a sum of Rs 1.64 crore.

In the first case, the four accused lied to the victim for recruitment in a trading company, then lured him into purchasing the IPO stocks and holding them for 30 days to earn good returns, Commissioner Kothakota Sreenivasa Reddy said while addressing the media.

Of the four, one was an ex-employee of a prominent private bank and used to help the accomplices open fake current bank accounts in different banks through known officials.

The accused then sold these bank accounts on commission based on the transactions carried out in those accounts to the prime accused, who absconded abroad.

The police said, initially, the cyber fraudsters used to give small profit amounts to gain the trust of the victims, after which they would insist on investing huge sums. Once done, they would stop responding to them.

While the amount was initially transferred into a single bank account, upon analysing it, the cops came across 24 more fake Shell Company bank accounts, for a total of Rs 22.24 crore.

A total of 171 cases were registered against the four accused – two from Rajasthan and one each from Bihar and Delhi – with 11 alone in Telangana, where they have amassed Rs 1.43 crore from the victims so far. The cops have registered a case under IPC U/s 66(C),(D) IT Act & Sec 419 and 420.

Similarly, in the second cyber investment fraud case, the police arrested three people for cheating a person for Rs 3,45,570. The accused were booked in 10 similar cases previously in Telangana and 92 cases nationwide.