Cybercrime police bust trading and parcel fraud rackets

The cyber crimes wing of the Hyderabad police have cracked down on a series of criminal networks that duped victims in trading and parcel scam cases, arresting accused persons from Gujarat, Punjab, and Haryana. Investigators said the cases involved use of fake trading apps, WhatsApp groups and intimidation tactics, with victims losing crores of rupees.

In one case, two men from Vadodara, Gujarat, were arrested for luring investors through fake stock market platforms disguised under the name of reputed companies. The accused, Inamdar Vinayaka Rajendar, 25, and Rishi Thushar Arothe, 30, tricked a Hyderabad resident into investing ₹32 lakh.

Victims were shown fake profits through fraudulent apps and asked to pay additional charges to withdraw funds. Once large sums were collected, the platforms were shut down. Police said the two had provided bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets to fraudsters and were involved in 12 cases across India. Arothe, a former Ranji cricket player, had a past criminal record for diverting fraud money.

In another case, Sanjeev Kumar, aged 49, a businessman from Ludhiana, Punjab, was held for duping a 69-year-old priest from Hyderabad of ₹1.23 crore. The victim was added to a WhatsApp group, persuaded to download a trading app and shown inflated profits before being pressured to invest further. The accused operated multiple bank accounts, issued cheques and used a trading company stamp to make the fraud appear genuine. He was found to be involved in five cases across the country.

In the third case, Nikhil Tiwari, aged 25, from Gurugram, Haryana, was arrested for his role in a ‘FedEx parcel scam’ that targeted a Hyderabad doctor. The victim was falsely told that a package in his name contained narcotics, police uniforms and debit cards. Through threatening video calls with imposters posing as senior officers, the victim was coerced into transferring ₹1.23 crore through bank transactions. Police said the accused also faced a case in Maharashtra.

Officials urged the public to be wary of unsolicited investment offers, WhatsApp groups promising high returns and intimidating calls claiming to be from enforcement agencies. Citizens were advised never to transfer money to unknown accounts and to verify investment platforms with SEBI before investing.