Hyderabad: Cyber crime police on Wednesday registered a cheating case after a woman from Somajiguda alleged she lost 42.7 lakh to a gang operating a KBC (Kaun Banega Crorepati) lottery fraud.The 40-year-old victim approached the Hyderabad Cyber Crime police on Wednesday and submitted a written complaint detailing the fraud. Police said the fraudsters contacted the victim on WhatsApp, claimed she had won 1.3 crore in a KBC lucky draw and demanded successive payments towards processing charges, taxes and security deposits.Police said the fraudsters sent fake promotional posters featuring actors Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan and a counterfeit SBI cheque showing 1.3 crore in her name to convince her. They also sent her a fake Central Bureau of Investigation demand notice and forced her to pay 1.15 lakh to issue a clearance certificate.Believing the documents to be genuine, the victim borrowed from friends and relatives and sent the money through 125 bank transactions between Sept 2023 and Nov 2025 to multiple accounts.On the victim’s complaint, police booked a case under Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act and Sections 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation), 336(3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will etc.) and 340(2) (Using as genuine a forged document or electronic record) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.“The fraudsters used five different mobile numbers and a significant chunk of money was transferred to accounts in the names of three suspects. We are analysing the transaction details to identify the accused,” a police officer said.
