Key Highlights
- Hyderabad businessman loses ₹2.65 crore in India to Polyus Finance PFP Gold crypto scam.
- Scammers allowed a small crypto withdrawal, then demanded 15% fee before vanishing from India’s market.
- Rising crypto fraud in India: CBI arrests in Kerala and a ₹350 crore crypto Ponzi scheme expose nationwide risks.
A 69-year-old businessman from Hyderabad’s Somajiguda has reportedly lost ₹2.65 crore (~$291,334) in a cryptocurrency and stock investment fraud, police said.
Hyderabad Cyber Crime authorities have registered a case after the businessman lodged a complaint, highlighting the increasing dangers for investors in India’s growing digital financial market.
The businessman told police that on August 30, 2025, he was first contacted on Facebook by someone claiming to be Indian actress Ramya Krishnan, according to a local report. The person convinced him to invest in Polyus Finance PFP Gold, hosted at pfpgoldfx.vip, promising high returns to fund his planned resort and apparel ventures.
How the scam worked
The victim said that the people who scammed him would talk to him every day and send him pictures showing that he was making money from his USDT cryptocurrency account.
To make him trust them, they even let him take out a small amount of money, ₹4,300 (~$48), on September 12, 2025. After that, the victim felt safe and sent over ₹2.65 crore in 10 different transactions from September to December 2025.
The guy tried to take out a big chunk of money, but the scammers wanted an extra 15% just to let him do it. When he said no way, the whole website just disappeared, and the scammers stopped talking to him altogether.
A businessman recently went to the authorities about a problem he was having. He first told them about it on a special website where people can report cybercrimes. Then, on February 25, 2026, he went to the Hyderabad Cyber Crime police station to file a report.
The police have started an investigation and are looking into the laws that might have been broken, like the Information Technology Act and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Now, they’re carefully checking the businessman’s financial records and transactions to try to figure out who did it and catch them.
Recent crypto fraud cases in India
A recent case has come to light, just a few days after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made some arrests in a big scam in Kerala. Three people were taken into custody for their role in a ₹1.86 (~$204K) crore Digital Arrest scam.
In this scam, a senior citizen was tricked into transferring money online. The scammers used a clever method to move the funds, routing them through what’s called “mule accounts” and cryptocurrency channels.
The CBI carried out searches in Goa, Bengaluru, Palakkad, Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Delhi. Among those arrested were a mule account operator, a shell company operator, and a SIM card fraud facilitator. Investigators said parts of the operations were run from outside India.
The CBI had already started looking into another case back on February 24, 2026. This one was about a big cryptocurrency scam that involved over ₹350 (~$38.5M) crore. The people running the scam promised investors really high returns, but they didn’t have the necessary approvals from regulators.
As a result, seven individuals were charged in connection with the case. When authorities searched their properties, they found cash and digital assets worth around $38,414. Upon further investigation, it became clear that the scammers were using a clever tactic to hide the source of the funds. They would constantly convert the money into different cryptocurrencies, making it difficult to track where it came from.
Investor takeaways
The cryptocurrency market in India is growing fast, and with it, the risks for investors are also increasing. Now, the authorities are not just going after the people who commit these crimes, but they’re also trying to take down the whole system that supports them.
Special teams that deal with cybercrime are tracking how money is moving and who’s talking to whom, both in India and in other countries, to find out who’s working together to pull off these scams. This way, they can stop the problem at its root, rather than just catching a few individuals. By doing this, they hope to make the market safer for everyone.
The Hyderabad incident serves as a stark warning for investors. It stresses the importance of verifying investment platforms, exercising caution with unusually high-return schemes, and reporting suspicious activities immediately. From Digital Arrest scams targeting individuals to large-scale Ponzi schemes, vigilance is essential for anyone participating in India’s cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Also Read: Jane Street in the Crosshairs: From $566M India Penalty to Terra Front-Running Suit
