49-year-old Hyderabad resident loses ₹4.31 crore to fake investment link on Instagram leading to TRASHOONYA scam app

Summary

A Hyderabad resident lost Rs 4.31 crore after clicking on an investment link on Instagram that led to a fraudulent scheme. The victim, Rajeswara Rao Vanka (49), was directed to a WhatsApp group by the link, which claimed to be affiliated with "Shoonya by Finvasia," a legitimate broking firm. Scammers posing as Divyanshi Agarwal and Ashok Reddy guided him to download a fake app called "TRASHOONYA" and provided a trading ID. Over several weeks, Vanka transferred large sums to multiple bank accounts under the pretense of trading and IPO investments between December 2024 and January. When he tried to withdraw his funds, he was asked to deposit an additional 40% of his investment. After visiting Finvasia's Mumbai office and confirming the fraud, Vanka filed a complaint with the cyber crime police station of the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau on January 17. A case has been registered under various sections of the BNS and IT Act.