Hyderabad:A businessman, who had basic knowledge of stocks, started investing based on the advice of his friends. However, fraudsters, who claimed to be a Sebi-registered firm, swindled a staggering amount of Rs 78 lakh from him.
The victim, a 44-year-old businessman from Nacharam, said that he had little knowledge of stocks and shares and had never shown much interest in them. When he finally did, he suffered a huge loss.
The victim said, “I never showed interest in stocks and shares. But I heard success stories from my friends, and once again, I was encouraged to trade wisely. Soon, I started receiving messages on WhatsApp from some people claiming to be from RBL Securities, which they claimed was registered with the BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange). I trusted them, thinking it was genuine.”
To trap the victim, the fraudsters made him believe that he could earn money by investing. Initially, he was offered free trading tips, which earned approximately `80,000. After a month, they asked him to take their membership.
The victim said, “After a month of offering free tips, they told me they couldn’t continue offering free tips and offered a VIP plan for Rs 10,000 for the first month and subsequently Rs 1 lakh a month.”
After purchasing the membership, the victim was made to invest in IPO subscriptions, but the funds were transferred to other entities. When he tried to withdraw, the representatives claimed he needed to have 70 IPO subscription points.
“Though I didn’t have any funds, I borrowed money and invested again. But when they demanded more investment, I realised it was a fraud and reported it to the Cybercrime police,” the victim said.
A case has been registered with the Rachakonda cybercrime police under the BNS and IT Acts and is being investigated.
