Hyderabad doctor loses ₹41 lakh in fake investment website scam
HYDERABAD: A 64-year-old doctor from Banjara Hills has lodged a complaint with the cybercrime police after losing ₹41.06 lakh in an online investment fraud.
According to the complaint, Dr Kalpana Sringar and her husband, Dr Uday Shankar Araga, were approached on Facebook by a woman identifying herself as Harshini Chowdary. She claimed to be an interior designer based in Bengaluru and a board member of a design firm, while originally belonging to Tirupati.
The accused later contacted the couple on WhatsApp from multiple numbers and introduced them to Gold BlockchainX (GBC), presented as a legitimate digital assets trading platform. She directed them to register on the websites gbcxvault.com and gbcx-secure.net, claiming they could earn high profits by trading in gold through blockchain.
Payments made to multiple accounts
Initially, the victims received small credited amounts as profit, which encouraged further investment. On her instructions, they transferred funds from Indian Overseas Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank and HDFC Bank accounts into different accounts linked to IDFC First Bank, Bank of Baroda and City Union Bank.
In total, ₹39,90,387 was transferred from Dr Sringar’s accounts and ₹1,50,000 from her husband’s HDFC Bank account. Although they received a credited return of ₹33,979, they were later asked to deposit additional amounts under the guise of “tax notices” sent from support@gbcxvault.com.
When they attempted to withdraw the funds, the website demanded further deposits through RTGS, after which all communication ceased. The couple realised they had been duped and approached the cybercrime police.
Case registered
The complaint lists all the details of fraudulent transactions, including a single transfer of ₹9.11 lakh to a Bank of Baroda account, among others. The fraudster operated through at least three WhatsApp numbers and two websites.
Based on the complaint, the Cybercrime Police Station, Detective Department, Hyderabad, has registered and launched an investigation.
