Hyderabad: A 28-year-old Hyderabad resident was duped out of Rs 11,17,834 after his match on Shaadi.com turned out be a cyber fraudster.
According to the Hyderabad cybercrime police, the victim met a woman named Anjali Kandula on the matrimonial site, who introduced herself as an Azure DevOps Engineer working in the United Kingdom.
She gained the victim’s trust by portraying herself as caring, sincere, and interested in a long-term relationship. Afterwards, she introduced the victim to a fake cryptocurrency trading platform named Bakktcoin, claiming her uncle was an expert trader, a release stated.
Initially, she asked him to invest a small amount and showed fake profits to gain confidence, but she later persuaded him to invest larger sums through Binance USDT (ERC-20) transactions.
Once the platform displayed a wallet balance of 14,481 USDT (approximately Rs 12–12.5 lakhs), the victim tried withdraw the amount, but the customer support instead pressured him to invest more.
The victim, realizing the scam, registered a complaint with the cybercrime police. A case was registered under sections 66 C, 66 D of the IT Act and sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Accused was involved in cyberfraud network in Cambodia
On February 24, the main accused, Pedapudi Prasanna Kumar, was arrested at Chennai airport after he arrived from Cambodia.
Kumar, a resident of Vishakapatnam, reportedly confessed that in April 2024, while he was trying to secure employment overseas, came into contact with a consultant in Andhra Pradesh who sent him to Cambodia under the pretext of a data-based employment opportunity.
After reaching the foreign country, he came into contact with fraudsters who were engaged in organised cyber fraud activities, particularly targeting Indian nationals.
The accused then joined the fraudsters and underwent training to cheat people under the pretext of cryptocurrency trading. Kumar reportedly procured approximately 400 to 500 SIM cards from Visakhapatnam locals Ravi Kiran and Ganga Raju and used them to make multiple social media and matrimonial accounts.
He used these accounts to impersonate a woman and get people to deposit their money into fake cryptocurrency/forex trading websites.
The accused has been produced before a court and further investigation is underway to identify and apprehend other associates, including local facilitators and international links involved in the cybercrime network.
Efforts are also being made to trace the money trail, identify beneficiary accounts, and recover the cheated amount, police said.
Police have asked public to be wary of profiles on matrimonial websites luring people into fraudulent investment schemes and only invest into Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) approved platforms.
If anyone falls victim to cybercrime, they are asked to contact the helpline at 1930 or reach out through the official website.
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