Rapid Summary
- Three individuals arrested by Hyderabad police for defrauding a victim of over ₹44 lakh under the guise of being trading advisors from a fictitious firm named ‘Aveshta Study Group-W’.
- Accused identified as Milind Manohar Narkar (34, private employee, Mumbai), Ranak Jagadish Patel (31, businessman, Thane), and salik Imtiyaz Ahmed Siddiqui (25, private employee, Thane). They collaborated with a Dubai-based cyber fraudster.
- The scammers lured the victim in June 2025 with promises of high investment returns and convinced him to transfer funds into multiple bank accounts.
- A 20% service charge was demanded before releasing profits and original investments; the total fraud amounted to ₹44.04 lakh.
- Investigators revealed Milind Narkar’s role in converting stolen funds into cryptocurrency and managing mule accounts across seven Indian states. His network also extended to arranging accommodations for account holders in Mumbai hotels.
- Police seized three mobile phones from the accused; all were working on commission for the overseas scam operator by handling local bank accounts integral to the fraud scheme.
- Hyderabad police issued public warnings about fake investment schemes leveraging platforms like Telegram, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook using forged credentials like SEBI certifications or doctored profit screenshots. Citizens advised to validate schemes rigorously before engaging financially and report cyberfraud via helpline number 1930 or https://cybercrime.gov.in.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The arrests illustrate how cybercrime networks are evolving in sophistication through cross-border coordination aided by technology such as cryptocurrencies for laundering illicit earnings across jurisdictions like India and Dubai. While this swift police action underscores Hyderabad authorities’ vigilance against digital crimes targeting unsuspecting individuals seeking financial gains through trading or investments online – it further highlights vulnerabilities among citizens inexperienced with fraudulent tactics frequently employed on social media apps.
The public advisory issued serves as an notable step toward cultivating financial literacy regarding suspicious schemes promising unrealistic returns while highlighting risks associated within unregulated spaces such advertisements proliferate unchecked impacting credibility/harmage broader industry credibility towards safer engagement/investment supervisory redressal growing importance educating enabling user awareness care insights ahead alongside rapid economic regional digitized shifts overall societal betterment advancement pathways forward teamwork institutional policing judiciary reforms enhancing technological monitoring robust international cooperation cybersecurity challenging demands underway ..