Hyderabad man arrested for online trading fraud

Hyderabad, Jan 6 Hyderabad police have arrested a man for defrauding people to the tune of Rs 49.90 lakh in the name of online trading.

A Cybercrime police station team apprehended Mohammed Ashfaq, a resident of Hyderabad.

The police said on Tuesday that the arrest was made during the investigation after a complaint was received from a victim, also a resident of Hyderabad.

According to police, Ashfaq, 33, who runs a general store business, gave his bank account to cyber fraudsters on a commission basis for use in cyber fraud. He met cyber fraudsters in New Delhi, and in his presence, they used this account in an online stock market-related cyber fraud.

Police investigation revealed that Rs 3.70 crore was deposited into this account. The cyber fraudsters diverted the fraud amount through internet banking by collecting OTPs from Ashfaq, who has been named the second accused in the case.

The complainant told police that he received a message through a WhatsApp number. The caller introduced herself as Meena Bhat in the 86 DBS India Wealth Group Investment and added him to a WhatsApp group named "86 DBS India Wealth Group Investment" and shared an internal portal link to buy stocks.

The victim deposited Rs 2 lakh and bought the stock as told. He was allowed to withdraw his money after initial profits.

Promising more profits, Bhat asked him to deposit more money into the bank accounts given by her. Once the amount was deposited, she said IPO allocation would happen and asked him to invest more money to close the IPO subscription. As he didn't deposit any more money, they blocked him in the group chat and removed him from the contact list. He later realised that it was a fraud and complained online at 1930 and lodged a written complaint at the Cybercrime Police Station. He had transferred Rs 49.90 lakh to their provided bank accounts. Based on the complaint, a case was registered under 66(C), 66(D )of the IT Act & Sec 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), 338, and 340(2) of the BNS.

The amount deposited in Ashfaq’s bank account is related to 29 cases throughout India. Twelve of these cases were from Telangana, four from Karnataka, three from Maharashtra, two each from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Odisha, and one each from Assam, Haryana, and West Bengal.

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