Telangana: Educated lot falling prey to trading frauds on the rise

Each police commissionerate – Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda – reports losses of up to Rs 2 crore in trading frauds every day

Hyderabad: Of late, there has been a significant rise in cybercrimes related to fake stock market trading applications and fake trading advisories wherein the victims end up losing huge money.

In each of the Police Commissionerates – Hyderabad, Cyberabad and Rachakonda – each day the total amount lost in trading frauds is put anywhere between Rs 1 crore and Rs 2 crore. In Telangana, it is estimated that around Rs 5 crore is lost in trading frauds. And interestingly, most of the victims being cheated are well-educated.

Fraudsters approach victims through various online social media platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook through advertisements regarding free stock market tips and advice. To gain the confidence of the victim, they post fake screenshots of the profits earned by other clients and initially the fraudsters transfer money to the victim’s bank account.

According to Cybercrime Police, the suspects are giving login IDs on their own apps and websites and buying stocks from there. They are sending bank accounts to the victims from time to time through UPI and online banking, not from the respective websites and apps, and are suggesting that they deposit money in the respective accounts.

Cybercrime officials said the fraudsters insist the victims join the Premium VIP group stating they share stock market tips and advice with which they could get more profits.

Fake profits are displayed on the dashboard of the website but when the victim tries to withdraw those profits, the withdrawal option is blocked and the fraudsters insist transfer of money for unblocking the account citing different taxes and penalties.

“In most of the cases, techies, working professionals, chartered accountants and lawyers are getting trapped by the fraudsters. They see advertisements on social media and invest in fake trading website and ended up being cheated,” said a senior cybercrime official.