A 72-year-old retired IAS officer in Hyderabad was allegedly cheated of Rs 3.37 crore by cyber fraudsters pretending to be the agents of reputed companies that offer lucrative returns on investments.
The complainant told police that after an initial chat with the “Dhani website”, a woman named Arjun Mehta lured him and made him subscribe to “mutual funds, IPOs and options trading”. Based on her directions, he opened an account for stock trading.
Another fraudster, Arjun Ramesh Mehta, claimed to be the chief investment officer in charge of strategy and planning. He told the victim that he and his IT team developed AI-based MFs, recommending options trading with a 90% probability of a +10% gain by accurate AI-based analytical tools.
Arjun Ramesh would chat daily with the victim over WhatsApp at 10 am, 2 pm and 7.30 pm, presenting market trends and giving trading advice.
The fraudsters built trust by sending regular stock market updates and trading advice via WhatsApp sessions,” said a police official. “Between March and May 2025, the officer transferred multiple amounts, ranging from Rs 28,568 to Rs 50 lakh, eventually totalling Rs 3.3 crore.” However, the scam came to light when the victim tried to withdraw his purported profits — amounting to Rs 22 crore — and was told he needed to pay an additional Rs 33.5 lakh to access the funds.
This raised suspicions and prompted him to approach the authorities.
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