Key Takeaways
- • A 53-year-old Hyderabad businessman lost ₹73 lakh (~$8,760 USD) in a fake cryptocurrency investment scheme operating under the domain Maximgain.com, with the scam executed across multiple tranches between September 2025 and the discovery date.
- • The fraud employed social media recruitment (Facebook/Instagram reels), fake persona impersonation (Luis Sanchez as CEO; Naresh Verma as facilitator), and a fabricated trading dashboard showing artificial profits to build victim confidence before blocking withdrawal requests.
- • Initial small withdrawal of ₹21,204 was processed to establish legitimacy, after which the victim made three additional investments (₹41.85 lakh, ₹17.83 lakh, ₹16,461) before the platform displayed total holdings of ₹74.68 lakh—all funds ultimately inaccessible.
- • The scam utilized Binance P2P trading infrastructure for USDT (Tether) conversion, with cryptocurrency transaction analysis now underway by Malkajgiri Cyber Crime Police to trace fund flows and identify perpetrators across digital channels.
- • This incident reflects a broader pattern of cryptocurrency investment fraud in India, where multiple high-value cases (₹4 lakh to ₹10.5 crore losses) have been documented across Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Goa, and other metros, exploiting fake apps and dashboard interfaces targeting high-net-worth individuals.
Summary
A 53-year-old businessman from Nacharam, Hyderabad, filed a police complaint after losing ₹73 lakh in a coordinated online investment fraud involving fake cryptocurrency promises and fabricated trading dashboards. The scam was perpetrated by individuals operating under the aliases Luis Sanchez (claiming to be CEO of Maximgain.com) and Naresh Verma (investment facilitator), according to authorities at Malkajgiri Cyber Crime Police. The victim was initially attracted through a social media reel advertising daily returns of 2% with guaranteed capital repayment after 10 months—a classic high-yield investment scheme structure designed to appeal to retail and semi-institutional investors.
The operational mechanics of the fraud followed a sophisticated confidence-building pattern. The victim first invested ₹4.65 lakh in September 2025, converting INR to USDT cryptocurrency through Binance P2P trading. Critically, the platform processed a withdrawal of ₹21,204 in the early stages, providing apparent proof of concept and legitimizing the scheme. This small successful withdrawal—a common tactic in advance-fee and Ponzi-style fraud—gave the victim sufficient confidence to commit substantially larger amounts. He subsequently invested ₹41.85 lakh, ₹17.83 lakh, and ₹16,461 across additional tranches, with the dashboard reflecting a total portfolio value of approximately ₹74.68 lakh.
The collapse came when the victim attempted larger withdrawals, at which point the accused failed to process requests and systematically blocked all communication channels (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other platforms). Upon recognizing the scheme as fraudulent, the victim approached cyber authorities. Police are now conducting forensic analysis of cryptocurrency transactions and digital communication trails to identify the accused parties and trace fund flows through blockchain records. This case underscores the vulnerability of retail investors to sophisticated fake trading platforms that leverage real infrastructure (Binance P2P) while maintaining entirely fictional profit mechanisms.
The operational mechanics of the fraud followed a sophisticated confidence-building pattern. The victim first invested ₹4.65 lakh in September 2025, converting INR to USDT cryptocurrency through Binance P2P trading. Critically, the platform processed a withdrawal of ₹21,204 in the early stages, providing apparent proof of concept and legitimizing the scheme. This small successful withdrawal—a common tactic in advance-fee and Ponzi-style fraud—gave the victim sufficient confidence to commit substantially larger amounts. He subsequently invested ₹41.85 lakh, ₹17.83 lakh, and ₹16,461 across additional tranches, with the dashboard reflecting a total portfolio value of approximately ₹74.68 lakh.
The collapse came when the victim attempted larger withdrawals, at which point the accused failed to process requests and systematically blocked all communication channels (WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and other platforms). Upon recognizing the scheme as fraudulent, the victim approached cyber authorities. Police are now conducting forensic analysis of cryptocurrency transactions and digital communication trails to identify the accused parties and trace fund flows through blockchain records. This case underscores the vulnerability of retail investors to sophisticated fake trading platforms that leverage real infrastructure (Binance P2P) while maintaining entirely fictional profit mechanisms.
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