Investment cyber frauds surge as educated victims lured into scams in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Despite awareness campaigns, investment-related financial cyber frauds continue to rise in Andhra Pradesh. Worryingly, most victims are educated and tech-savvy, lured by promises of quick returns. Cyber crooks exploit this psychological weakness, siphoning off crores of rupees through fake investment schemes.On average, at least 30 people from Vizag, Vijayawada, Tirupati, and other towns fall prey to online stock trading scams each month, losing ₹15–20 crore. Nearly 80% of victims are educated professionals. The growing frauds highlight a troubling gap between preventive measures and investor behaviour.In the first week of April this year, a 43-year-old man from Vizag city lost over Rs1.2 crore in the fake stock trading scheme. In the third week of April, a 60-year-old man from Vizag city lost over Rs1.45 crore in the investment fraud. Interestingly both the victims were educated and tech-savvy.When the fraudsters repeatedly assured them of high returns and guided them to transfer the investment to multiple bank accounts, trusting their claims, they transferred huge amounts through multiple transactions. Upon demanding withdrawal of their profits and funds, they were asked to pay more as service charge to release profits. Realizing they had been cheated, the victims lodged police complaints. The greed for high returns in a short time is the biggest reason for the increasing investment related financial frauds. The gullible investors fall prey to promises of quick profits without adequately assessing risks, said inspector of cybercrimes police station, Vizag, K Bhavani Prasad. The police said the cyber crooks would reach out to people through various social media platforms such as Telegram and WhatsApp, lure them to invest in stocks for hefty returns in a short time. To win their trust of people, the fraudsters would initially send some profits. Once the victim invests more amounts, the scammers would display the profits through WhatsApp and Telegram and they would not allow him to withdraw the profits and invest money and ask more amounts citing some silly reasons. Many people lost money in such fashion, the police added. Police officials confirmed that in many investment frauds the accused remain unidentified, and an investigation is underway to trace the cyber fraud network and recover the siphoned funds.