City doctor loses Rs 14.61 crore in one of Telangana’s biggest cyber frauds

Hyderabad: In one of Telangana’s biggest cyber-investment frauds, a Hyderabad doctor was duped of Rs 14.61 crore after cybercriminals, posing as a woman on social media, trapped him in a fake online trading scheme.

The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) registered a case after the victim, a resident of Prem Nagar in Erragadda, filed a complaint.

The fraud first began on August 27, when the doctor was contacted by a woman named Monica Madhavan on Facebook Messenger.

She gained his sympathy and trust by claiming that she was a victim of marital cheating and was in the middle of a divorce case. She convinced him to continue to keep up communication via Telegram.

Throughout the chats, “Monica” would claim that she has more than five years of experience in share trading and earned Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh daily through CMC Markets, a UK-based online trading platform.

She later shared a website link and talked him into signing up for online trading on the platform.

Initially, she persuaded the doctor to invest Rs 30 lakhs. Soon, the dashboard showed a virtual profit of Rs 8.6 lakhs, creating a false impression of legitimacy.

The doctor ultimately took bank loans and borrowed from friends to invest nearly Rs 14 crore in multiple instalments. His trading account even displayed a profit of Rs 34 crore at one point.

However, the doctor realised it was a scam after he tried withdrawing the money. The fraudsters demanded an additional Rs 7.5 crore as ‘tax’ for releasing the money.

The woman tried “helping” him by stating that she would pay half and he would only have to arrange the remaining Rs 3.75 crore.

When the documents shared by the supposed CMC representatives appeared irregular, the victim began questioning the legitimacy of the entire operation. After he confronted the woman, she abruptly stopped responding.

The doctor filed a complaint with the TGCSB immediately after. A case was registered on Thursday, November 27, based on the complaint.

Officials said the case is being probed across several bank accounts and digital payment channels, and potential interstate cybercrime links are also under investigation.