Vizagites lose Rs 35 lakh in fake crypto investment scam

Visakhapatnam: Cyber fraudsters posing as cryptocurrency experts duped a group of Vizagites of over ₹35 lakh through a fake online trading scheme. The rising tide of investment scams continues to challenge the cybercrime police, who struggle to contain the surge in digital frauds.According to investigators, a 50-year-old man from Vizag was contacted on Telegram by users identifying themselves as Sam, Kareena, Praveen and others from "The Nine Hertz Group240." They persuaded him to invest in Bitcoin, promising hefty returns. Gradually, they won his trust and directed him to an online portal, market.magnon-prisma.top, claiming it was a genuine trading platform. Small deposits initially yielded quick returns, convincing the victim of its authenticity. Encouraged, he made multiple transfers via UPI and bank accounts, including a single payment of ₹5 lakh, totalling ₹16 lakh. "When he attempted to withdraw his displayed profits, the fraudsters demanded additional "tax" and service charges. On his refusal, they blocked his access and disappeared," police said.Based on his complaint, police registered a case under relevant sections of the IT Act and several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.Similarly, a few others from Vizag city lost around Rs 20 lakh after investing in the online trading platform, and the victims lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police station in Vizag city seeking action against the fraudsters.The police observed that the investment scams accounted for around 40% of the total money Vizagites lost to cybercrimes every month. The biggest hunk of these financial cyber frauds involved different types of investment scams. This was driven by netizens' greed and desire to make easy money, which was why they fell for such investment schemes that promised quick returns, said a senior police officer. The cyber crooks have been promising high returns on the investment, money through high-paying stocks; it is greed that makes the victims fall into the trap and lose lakhs to crores, the police added.