Hyderabad: A 39-year-old businessman from the city allegedly lost over Rs 3 crore in an online trading scam. The victim, a resident of the Suchitra Junction area, informed the police that he first came in contact with the fraudsters in Aug 2025 through an advertisement on Facebook. After clicking on a CFD (Contract for Difference) trading advertisement, he was connected to a Telegram bot-operated group called ‘TradGrip’. “They identified themselves as TradGrip company representatives and convinced me that their platform would independently manage CFD trading decisions on my behalf and that I only had to deposit funds for investment,” the victim said.The complainant initially investment Rs 19,000 through UPI in Aug 2025. As the virtual account on the company’s website reflected ‘profits’, he gradually started investing more. Between Aug and Dec 2025, the victim transferred over Rs 3 crore to various bank accounts provided by the fraudsters, using funds from his own account as well as the accounts of his friends and employees. “When I tried to withdraw the amount, the fraudsters demanded additional deposits to unlock withdrawals. Even after making further payments, the platform refused to release funds,” the victim said.After waiting unsuccessfully to withdraw his money, the victim lodged a complaint with the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal in the first week of July. He later approached TGCSB with a written complaint on July 17. Based on his complaint, a case was registered under Sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the BNS and Section 66-D of the IT Act. “We are analysing the financial transactions and the phone conversations between the complainant and the fraudsters to identify them,” said a TGCSB official.
