Hyderabad: A 47-year-old surgeon from the city lost over Rs 2.3 crore to cyber fraudsters running a fake stock market investment scam, after being lured with an initial withdrawal of Rs 50,000. Cyberabad cyber crime police registered a case on Thursday based on his complaint.The surgeon, who works at a corporate hospital, alleged that he was added to a WhatsApp group, ‘Gr Invest Tech Pvt Ltd.j9’, in July 2025 by a woman identifying herself as Abhilasha.The group was run by a man named Lalit, who claimed to be a stock market analyst and offered members purported institutional trading opportunities, including block trades and IPO allotments reserved for qualified institutional buyers.Group members regularly posted screenshots purportedly showing large profits and successful withdrawals, eventually convincing the surgeon to open an account on a fake trading platform, h5.qibccxzcgro.icu.The victim began transferring money to various bank accounts and UPI IDs provided by the platform’s customer support executives on July 15.“On July 16, I was allowed to withdraw Rs 50,000, which gave me confidence to invest more,” the complainant said.Between July and Oct 2025, he transferred more than Rs 2.3 crore. His virtual account on the platform eventually showed a balance of Rs 26 crore.However, whenever he attempted to withdraw the money, the fraudsters allegedly demanded additional payments towards taxes and commissions.After waiting for several months without receiving his money, the surgeon independently verified the investment platform and realised he had been cheated.He subsequently lodged a complaint with Cyberabad cyber crime police, who registered a case under relevant provisions of the BNS and the IT Act. Further investigation is underway.
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