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Hyderabad: A 41-year-old engineer employed at City Bank in Pune and a native of Khammam was allegedly duped of Rs 1.5 crore by cyber fraudsters in Hyderabad after being lured into investments in stocks.
In his complaint filed with the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB), the victim stated that he began investing in a platform which promised high returns. The victim said that in November 2025, he was introduced to the platform by his sister, who came across an advertisement on Instagram.
After clicking the link, the victim’s sister was added to a WhatsApp ‘Z926 one-to-one Service’ and ‘L Accel Partners Stock Exchange Group’ where fraudsters promised a return of upto 500 percent. One of the fraudsters identified herself as Deeksha Bhandari, urged the victim to download the “ACEFD” app after transfering Rs 60,000.
The engineer’s sister provided his contact to the fraudsters Using a link provided by the fraudsters, the victim installed the “ACESEC” app. The fraudsters guided the victim and his sister regarding investiments and showed fake profits.
From November 19, 2025 to January 14, 2026, the two siblings traansfered money from six different accounts to nine other accounts provided by the fraudster.
On December 9, the fraudsters deposited Rs 1.5 lakh into the victims account and displayed a profit of Rs 36 crore. When the victims tried to withdraw the money he was asked to pay Rs 36 lakh as service charge and Rs 20 lakh as income tax deposit.
Based on a complaint the TGCSB registered a case under sections under sections 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) 318 (4) (cheating) 319 (2) (Cheating by Impersonation), 338 (forgery), 340(2) (Using as genuine a forged document ) of BNS and sections 66 (C) and 66(D) of the IT Act
This post was last modified on January 31, 2026 10:44 am