Hyderabad techie loses Rs 33.62 lakh to fake Facebook trading app

Hyderabad: A software employee in Hyderabad has lost Rs 33.62 lakh to cyber fraudsters, only to be shown fake profits of over Rs 1.44 crore on a bogus trading app and asked to pay another Rs 28.83 lakh to withdraw them.

According to Deccan Chronicle, the victim, Rupesh Kumar Perla, came across a Facebook advertisement that led him to a WhatsApp group named “Equirus Leap A606.”

Within the group, a person introduced as a “financial advisor” named Divya Iyer allegedly guided him to install a trading app and invest in stocks and initial public offerings (IPOs). None of it was real.

The fraudsters first built his confidence with small amounts. Perla started with Rs 5,000 and withdrew Rs 4,257 to check whether the app paid out. It did. He was then allotted 4,125 shares of HD Fire Protected Ltd for Rs 4.7 lakh.

Convinced that the app was genuine, he went on to transfer a total of Rs 33.62 lakh to bank accounts provided by the fraudsters.

The app showed his holdings had grown by more than Rs 1.44 crore. When he tried to cash out, he was told to deposit another Rs 28.83 lakh first. He made inquiries and realised he had been cheated.

The Cyberabad Cyber Crime Police registered a case under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66-D of the Information Technology (IT) Act.

The case was registered following directions of the IX Additional Judicial Magistrate. Inspector V Durga Ramalinga Prasad is investigating.

Police said that the fraudsters had cloned the name of a legitimate firm to gain the trust of victims. They cautioned citizens against fraudulent trading apps and fake investment groups operating through social media.

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