Bengaluru man loses ₹42.62 lakh in cryptocurrency scam on Telegram, probe on: Report

A Bengaluru man lost over ₹42 lakh to a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme he discovered on Instagram.

A Bengaluru man has accused an online trading platform of defrauding him of ₹42.62 lakh after he invested in what was presented as a lucrative cryptocurrency trading scheme.

Fraudsters duped a Bengaluru investor of ₹42.62 lakh through a fake trading scheme.

As per a police complaint registered on November 14, 45-year-old Shakthivel E came across the opportunity through Instagram, where an individual named Ashutosh Sharma allegedly introduced him to a Telegram group offering guidance on crypto investments, said a report by the NDTV. The group pitched a one-week trading programme focusing on Ethereum and USD pairs, assuring handsome profits and a 15 per cent cut on earnings as commission. Initially, small returns were credited to his account from different sources, strengthening his belief in the scheme.

The complaint mentions that Shakthivel’s trading account later reflected a balance of 138,687.22 USDT. But when he tried to withdraw those funds, the operators claimed his bank details were incorrect and insisted he pay ₹4 lakh to fix the issue. They soon followed this up with additional demands, citing penalties for late payment, currency conversion fees, and even fictitious “RBI tax” requirements, as per the report.

Desperate to recover his supposed earnings, Shakthivel borrowed money from digital lenders like Bajaj Finance and Axio, and also from friends, before transferring various sums from his bank accounts to multiple recipients linked to the alleged fraudsters.

Between July 3 and August 1, the total payments reached ₹42.62 lakh. However, the investor could not access any returns from the platform. Once he realised it was a scam, he filed a complaint seeking police assistance to trace the culprits and reclaim his funds.

HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of this information.