Hyderabad: An online investment racket running to over rupees seven crore has been busted here. Four people involved in this investment racket have been arrested, police said Monday. The four allegedly cheated nearly 2,500 people from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana of over rupees seven crore after promising high returns on their investments.
The four accused developed a website and a mobile application. They displayed photos of foreigners as directors and team members of a company. They claimed the company to be a United Kingdom entity and a MNC to attract innocent citizens, Cyberabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar told reporters.
Even though no company existed physically and there was no product involved, the accused used two virtual UK numbers. They contacted with customers and offered them high returns on their investments, the police said.
Any person who wished to invest in the company has to register as a member. The person can deposit in five investment plans with amounts ranging between Rs 10,000 and Rs 1,00,000. Those investing would be given a refund of five per cent of the invested amount as commission, the accused said while luring customers. If members bring other customers then they would get 10 per cent commission on the investment, they said.
The accused initially offered commission to some depositors while the remaining promised amount and profits were defrauded, the police said. The four ran the company from July to September this year. Then they closed it since they got scared of the huge money flow into their bank accounts, police informed.
One of the victims from Hyderabad filed a complaint with the police in October based on which a case was registered. During the course of investigation the accused were identified and arrested from Visakhapatnam.