Hyderabad: A businessman and a manager of a private firm in Khammam were duped of Rs 2.33 crore in fake cryptocurrency and stock market investment schemes.
In the first case, a 50-year-old businessman received a WhatsApp message on Nov 25, 2025, from a woman who identified herself as Jessica Meenakshi. She claimed to work for a ceramics firm in Sharjah and also to run a family-owned crypto and forex trading outfit. She persuaded the victim to open an account on the website, pc.fxprogroup.cc, promising large returns on foreign-exchange and crypto deals.
Convinced by the fraudster, the victim made an initial investment of Rs 50,000 on December 14, 2025, and received a profit of Rs 4,800 the next day. In his complaint to the Telangana Cybersecurity Bureau(TGCSB), the businessman said he was convinced that the platform was genuine and continued to invest.
Across multiple transactions from his four bank accounts and his friends’ three accounts, the victim invested over 1 crore between December 14, 2025, and January 21, 2026.
When he finally attempted to withdraw an on-screen balance of USD 3,89,592 on Jan 21, the fraudsters demanded 64 lakh towards income tax. By Feb 3, the victim had paid the amount and tried to withdraw once again.
He was asked to pay 34.28 lakh towards the currency-exchange fee, which he paid on February 7. Subsequently, the businessman was asked to pay 51.42 lakh as a security deposit, and I realised that it was a fraud. I lost over 2.05 crore. On his complaint, a case was registered at TGCSB’s Khammam unit on March 12.
Manager duped of Rs 33 lakh
In the second case, a 57-year-old deputy manager of a private firm was duped of Rs 33.5 lakh in May 2025. In his complaint, the victim stated that he came across an advertisement regarding investments in the stock market, which contained the video of Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman explaining the benefits of the scheme.
He was contacted by tele-callers identifying themselves as Abdul and Arul, and as per their guidance, the victim opened accounts on trad****.com and bu******et.com and began transferring money from his personal bank accounts. He transferred over 33.5 lakh between May 26 and September 6, 2025.
The victim’s withdrawal requests were first withheld and later rejected, with the websites showing negative balances recently.
Based on the complaint of the victim, TGCSB Khammam booked a case under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.) and 340(2) (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), read with 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Section 66-D of the Information Technology Act on March 20.
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