Hyderabad: A 69-year-old businessman from Somajiguda lost 2.65 crore allegedly in a cryptocurrency and stock investment fraud. Based on his complaint, Hyderabad Cyber Crime police have registered a case.The complainant was first contacted by a fraudster posing as Ramya Krishnan on Aug 30, 2025 through Facebook. She persuaded the victim to invest in a cryptocurrency and stock trading platform, Polyus Finance PFP Gold, hosted at the domain pfpgoldfx.vip, promising high returns to finance his proposed resort and apparel ventures.Fraudsters provided the victim a contact number for daily communication and sent screenshots showing notional profits credited in his wallet in USDT cryptocurrency. To build trust, the fraudster even allowed the victim a token withdrawal of 4,300 on Sept 12, 2025.Encouraged, the victim transferred over 2.65 crore in 10 transactions between Sept 10 and Dec 39, 2025 to various current accounts provided by the accused.When he attempted to withdraw his ‘earnings’, the accused demanded an additional 15% conversion commission. After he refused, the website became inaccessible and calls to the fraudsters went unanswered.Realising that he was duped, the victim filed an online report on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) before approaching the Cyber Crime police on Feb 25.Based on his complaint, a case was registered under Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act and Sections 111(2)(b) (Organised crime), 318(4) (Cheating), 319(2) (Cheating by personation), 336(3) (Forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (Forgery of valuable security, will, etc.) and 340(2) (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita on Wednesday. Police were analysing financial transactions to identify and arrest the accused.
