1 day ago
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A 42-year-old resident of Langer House was duped of over ₹10 lakh in a cyber fraud after being befriended by a woman on Facebook who posed as a UK-based native of Visakhapatnam.
The victim received a message on August 21 from a woman identifying herself as Sai Preethi. After weeks of friendly exchanges, she persuaded him to invest in what she described as a profitable online trading opportunity. The man first transferred ₹50,000 and was shown small returns in his online wallet to gain his confidence. Encouraged by the apparent profits, he continued investing between September 1 and October 10, transferring a total of ₹10,21,000 to multiple UPI IDs and bank accounts shared by the fraudster.
Trouble began when he tried to withdraw 14,000 dollars from his trading account, only to find the transaction blocked. The woman then demanded additional payments, claiming they were needed to clear taxes. It was then that the victim realised he had been conned by cybercriminals posing as stock market investors.
Police have urged media outlets to issue public advisories warning citizens against such scams. Cybercrime officers noted that fraudsters often create fake profiles on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to befriend individuals and win their trust before luring them into bogus online trading or investment schemes promising high profits.
Authorities have advised the public not to trust unknown persons claiming to be from abroad or offering investment tips, to avoid clicking on suspicious links or downloading trading apps sent through social media or WhatsApp, and never to transfer money to unknown UPI IDs or bank accounts for investment purposes.
English (US) ·