Businessman Loses 4.8 Crore in Fake Stock Trading Scam

On 2025-11-07T12:20:37+00:00, the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) registered a cheating case and launched an investigation after a 41-year-old businessman from Patancheru alleged he was duped of over 4.8 crore through a fake international stock trading platform.

The complainant, a resident of Muthangi village in Patancheru, had received WhatsApp messages from two fraudsters posing as Lavanya Dasari and her friend Arpitha in early September. Claiming to be employees of a reputed brokerage backed by Lavanya's UK-based uncle, the duo urged the victim to trade on a fake site, etoroglofx.com, promising triple returns and assured guidance.

Trusting the pitch, the victim first transferred 50,000 via UPI to a bank account provided by the accused on September 21. The site immediately displayed a 15% gain, after which the women credited 15,400 to his account to build confidence. Over the next six weeks, the victim transferred a staggering 4.89 crore from his two bank accounts to 12 beneficiary accounts located across Bihar, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.

By late October, the online dashboard on the fraudulent website showed a balance of 16 crore. However, when the victim tried to withdraw the amount, the fraudsters demanded an additional 2.5 crore towards 15% capital gains tax. Becoming suspicious, the victim refused to comply, and the accused subsequently blocked his access to the site.

Realizing he had been conned, the victim filed a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal on November 1 and approached the TGCSB headquarters a few days later. A case was registered under relevant sections of the IT Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.