Hyderabad: A 48-year-old lineman of Telangana State Northern Power Distribution Company (TGNPDCL) from Ramagundam was duped of 94.11 lakh by cyber fraudsters who posed as representatives of an established stock trading platform. Based on the complaint of the victim, Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) sleuths have registered a case and launched a probe.According to police, the victim lodged a complaint on May 1 stating that he was cheated in an online trading fraud. The victim told police that while browsing Facebook, he came across an advertisement of a trading app promising high returns on investment. After he clicked on the link provided with the advertisement, he was contacted through WhatsApp calls from multiple numbers. The callers convinced him to install a stock trading app through a link provided by them and invest money through the app by assuring daily profits. “They opened an account in my name and persuaded me to invest bigger sums for trading oil and gold stocks,” the victim said.The fraudsters displayed fake profits on the trading app and demanded additional payments towards taxes, commissions and other charges when the victim attempted to withdraw the money. Trusting their claims, the victim transferred money in multiple RTGS transactions between Nov 6, 2025 and Mar 23, 2026.As he received no returns despite paying all the taxes, the victim realised the fraud and approached TGCSB sleuths. A case was registered under Sections 318(4) (Cheating) of the BNS and Section 66-D of the IT Act.
