A 78-year-old retired employee from Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, has reportedly lost ₹5.1 crore in a sophisticated stock market investment cyber fraud. The victim, who filed a complaint with the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB), stated that he first encountered the scam through a YouTube advertisement in September 2025 that promoted investment opportunities in financial markets.
How the Scam Unfolded
According to the complainant, he contacted the advertiser using a phone number provided in the advertisement. On September 17, 2025, he received a WhatsApp message from an individual identifying himself as Srinivas Rao, who claimed to be a financial adviser at Naka Solutions, London. The victim alleged that Rao communicated with him in Telugu to build trust and establish cultural affinity. On September 22, 2025, Rao shared a link to a fake trading platform (https://trade.nakasolutions.com) and assigned the victim a client ID.
Following Rao's advice, the victim began transferring money to various bank accounts for stock investments. The fraudulent platform displayed 'capital gains' of USD 17 lakh, which encouraged further payments. The fraudsters demanded money under various pretexts, including stamp duty reserve tax, insurance premium, conversion fee, foreign inward remittance certificate processing charges, gateway charges, and SWIFT charges. The victim also alleged that the accused routed payments through multiple third-party Indian bank accounts described as 'RBI-approved merchants'.
Massive Financial Loss
Believing the scam to be legitimate, the victim transferred over ₹5.1 crore through 53 transactions between September 2025 and April 2026. Apart from Srinivas Rao, the victim named other fraudsters—Raman Singh, Anuj Singhal, Ananya, and Vishal Mishra—who interacted with him during the period. The scam came to light after the accused stopped all communication in the last week of April, following a final collection of ₹40 lakh. Realizing he had been duped, the victim approached the TGCSB Headquarters on Friday.
Legal Action
Based on the complaint, a case has been registered under Section 66D of the Information Technology Act and Sections 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Investigations are underway to trace the perpetrators and recover the stolen funds.
