Retired banker loses ₹98 lakh to fake trading app in Hyderabad | Hyderabad News

Hyderabad: A 65-year-old retired chief manager of a public sector bank was allegedly duped of over Rs 98 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as representatives of a private bank and lured him into investing through a fake trading app. The victim, a PhD holder in economics, told Cyberabad police that he joined a WhatsApp group, HSL Capital, on July 8 after clicking on a Facebook advertisement about stock market investment opportunities. A woman posing as Nisha Verma, who claimed to be the secretary to a senior banker, provided him with stock trading tips.“Using her tips, I traded stocks through my personal demat account and made a profit. On her advice, I downloaded an app, HSL Cap, and started depositing money into different bank accounts of SEBI-approved stock brokers. I started with Rs 20,000 on July 23. The app showed gains, but I was never allowed to withdraw,” the victim told police.Fraudsters offered the victim a Rs 50 lakh interest-free loan to fund his IPO purchase, which he later repaid. After the app showed a profit of about Rs 1.76 crore, the victim sought to withdraw the money. He was then asked to pay a series of fees and taxes to avoid scrutiny by the ED. “When they sought another Rs 3 lakh for express processing of withdrawal on Sept 22, I emailed the bank and received a response saying that the app was fake,” the victim said.After reporting the fraud on the national cybercrime helpline on Sept 26, he lodged a complaint with Cyberabad cybercrime police on Tuesday. A case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS and the IT Act.