Hyderabad: A Rachakonda police inspector lost ₹39.37 lakh in an online stock market scam. This exposes how even law enforcement officers are falling victim to cyber fraud.
The inspector, who lives in Vanasthalipuram, received a WhatsApp call on November 24 from scammers claiming to offer high returns on stock market investments. They added his number to a group named “Special Training Program, Deva A Team 13,” which had 98 members.
The group shared a link under the name “Mavericks Trading,” prompting him to create a username and password. After observing the group’s chats and seeing screenshots of claimed profits, the officer trusted the setup and began investing.
Cyber fraud: Fraudsters lured an officer through a WhatsApp stock group
Starting with ₹50,000, he made multiple transactions that eventually totalled ₹39.37 lakh. The platform displayed large profits on screen. However, when he tried to withdraw funds, the option was blocked.
Realising he had been duped, the inspector filed a complaint with the Rachakonda cybercrime police. They have registered a case and initiated an investigation.
This is the second such cyber fraud case in recent weeks, following an earlier incident involving another cybercrime inspector from the same commissionerate who was similarly defrauded.