Hyderabad: The Cyber Crime Police apprehended a man involved in an online fraud on the pretext of selling gold at a lower rate. The fraudsters had duped a 75-year-old man for Rs 5 lakh.

Police arrested Jale Chandra Shekhar Reddy of Saroor Nagar from Ranga Reddy District.

According to police, they received a complaint from a 75-year-old male victim, residing in Koti, Hyderabad, who had received a WhatsApp call in December 2024, stating that the caller was travelling from Mumbai to Hyderabad to purchase 10 grams of gold for Rs 50,000 in Mumbai, whereas the original price was Rs 80,000. The fraudster continuously insisted the victim purchase the gold.

Further, he told the victim not to discuss this with anyone and assured him that he would receive the gold. The victim believed the fraudster's words and placed an order for 6 tolas of gold. To full fill this, the victim transferred Rs 5,00,000 into different bank accounts provided by the accused.

Later, the fraudster postponed the delivery of the gold, citing Christmas and other excuses, and insisted that the victim pay more money to receive more gold. On January 15, the fraudster told the victim that the gold would be delivered.

However, when the victim tried to contact him to receive the gold, the fraudster did not respond to the victim's calls and began avoiding him. Then, the victim realized that he had been cheated under the pretext of purchasing gold at lower rates.

The Cyber Crime police said that the accused, Chandra Shekar had a history of addictive behaviours, including online betting games and excessive alcohol consumption. To fund these habits, he devised a plan to deceive innocent individuals.