Hyderabad: In what is described as the largest cyber fraud in the state targeting a single victim, cyber criminals duped an elderly man of Rs. 13.26 crore in Telangana's capital city, Hyderabad. The Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) on Wednesday arrested three individuals involved in this scam following a complaint filed by the victim on Monday.
The incident involved a retired employee from Hyderabad who received a message on WhatsApp, offering online stock trading tips. The victim, who had previously profited from the stock market, responded to the message. Fraudsters then sent links under the names of well-known companies like AFSL, Upstox, and International Brokers (IB), and added the victim to a WhatsApp group. The use of these reputed names prevented the victim from suspecting foul play.
Impersonating as representatives of these companies, the scammers provided stock market advice, convincing the victim to invest. The elderly man was unaware that the links directed him to fake websites and apps. Initially, they showed the victim small profits and even allowed him to withdraw some money, building his trust. Eventually, the victim transferred Rs. 13.26 crore in one go, after which the fraudsters stopped responding. Realising he had been scammed, the victim complained to the TGCSB on the second of September.
This massive fraud follows another recent scam where a Hyderabad resident lost Rs. 8.6 crore.
During the investigation, the TGCSB found that part of the money had been transferred to a bank account belonging to Mohammad Athirpasha (25), a Hyderabad Metro Rail employee from Himayatnagar. Upon his detention and questioning, the police uncovered the involvement of two other individuals: Arafat Khaled Mohiuddin (25) from Himayatnagar and Syed Khaza Hashimuddin (24) from Charminar Fathe Darwaza
Athirpasha admitted that the two had opened a bank account in his name, which they used as a mule account, a method of using others' accounts for fraudulent transactions.
According to Athirpasha, they were contacted by the prime accused online in connection with cryptocurrency dealings, where he requested a mule account. The funds in Athirpasha's account were withdrawn, converted into cryptocurrency, and transferred to the main suspect, who is yet to be identified
The three individuals were arrested and remanded on Wednesday. Investigations are continuing to identify the mastermind behind this massive cyber fraud.
