A Mumbai Man Duped of Rs 1.57 Crore in a Cryptocurrency Investment Scam
A Mumbai man has been duped out of Rs 1.57 crore in a cryptocurrency investment scam. The 36-year-old, a resident of the Napean Sea in the upscale Malabar Hill area of Mumbai, has now accused a website of letting him invest in cryptocurrency mining schemes. The suspect said a fake website had imprisoned him in the investment scheme. The case is registered at Malabar Hill Police Station.
According to a report in the Hindustan Times, the complainant became friends online with the suspect in October 2021. After a few days, the suspect started contacting him about cryptocurrency mining. The accused told the complainant that he could earn a lot of money by investing in cryptocurrency mining hardware through the ‘USD Miner’ website.
The suspect also told him about some strategies he could use to make money. The complainant was interested in the idea and chose to invest. The complainant continued to invest more and more money on behalf of the accused, as the profits were 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 tried to withdraw the money, the accused would discourage him from prolonging the deception, according to the officer. This made the complainant suspicious earlier this month after the suspect had repeatedly tried to persuade him not to withdraw money.
Thus, the complainant felt that something was wrong and asked the accused for a full refund of his investment. But soon he was shocked to discover that the suspect had turned off his phone and had become untraceable. To his horror, the complainant also found out that the website was fake. hoax.
Then he filed a complaint with the police. The police, on the basis of his complaint, registered an FIR against an unidentified person under the relevant provisions of the IPC and IT Act.
The police also wrote to the service provider and the bank in question, requesting more information about the fake website and the bank accounts of the beneficiaries to which the fraudulently obtained funds were transferred.
