Mumbai Man Defrauded Of Rs 1.57 Crore In A Cryptocurrency Investment Scam, Files Police Complaint

A man from Mumbai has been duped of Rs 1.57 crore in a cryptocurrency investment scam. The 36-year-old, a resident of a resident of Napean Sea in Mumbai's upscale Malabar Hill area, has now accused a website of trapping him into investing in cryptocurrency mining schemes. The accused said that a fake website trapped him in the investment scheme. The case has been registered at the Malabar Hill police station.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the complainant befriended the accused online in October 2021. The accused began contacting him about cryptocurrency mining after a few days. The accused told the complainant that by investing in cryptocurrency mining hardware through the website ‘USD Miner' he could make a lot of money.

The accused also told him about a number of strategies he might utilise to make money. The complainant was interested in the idea and chose to invest. The complainant continued to invest more and more money on the accused person's instructions as profit was credited to his virtual wallet. According to a police officer, the complainant has invested 2.83 lakh Australian dollars (about Rs 1.53 crore) since October 2021.

However, whenever the complainant attempted to withdraw the money, the accused would discourage him, according to the officer, in order to prolong the deception. This made the complainant suspicious earlier this month after the accused repeatedly tried to persuade him not to withdraw money.

So, sensing something was wrong, the complainant sought a full refund of his investment from the accused. But soon, to his horror, he discovered that the accused had switched off his phone, and became untraceable. To his shock, the complainant also found out that the website was fake. hoax.

That's when he filed a police complaint. The police have registered an FIR on against an unidentified person under relevant provisions of the IPC and IT Act, based on his complaint.

The police have also written to the service provider and the bank in question, requesting more information about the fake website as well as the beneficiary bank accounts to which the fraudulently obtained funds were moved.