E-Paper
Lured by fake book digitisation project, Chandigarh businessman loses ₹1.36 cr
The complainant, a proprietor in Sector 29-D, stated that he came across an Instagram advertisement in early October 2025, promoting lucrative digitalisation contracts for global library projects
A Chandigarh-based businessman was cheated of ₹1.36 crore by a fake company which promised large-scale book scanning and digitalisation projects for libraries.
The complainant, a proprietor in Sector 29-D, said that he came across an Instagram advertisement in early October, promoting lucrative digitalisation contracts for global library projects. Upon contacting the number listed, he was approached by a woman, claiming to be the marketing head of the firm.
According to the complaint, she assured the victim that the project was authentic, risk-free and would yield high profits. She later connected him with the alleged director of the company, who told him that he would be eligible for advance project payments after an audit and asked him to deposit 40% of the project cost as a security amount.
Trusting the assurances, the victim transferred ₹54.75 lakh on October 17, followed by ₹82.12 lakh on October 31, into the company’s bank account. In total, he deposited ₹1,36,87,500 through RTGS from two of his bank accounts. However, after receiving the full amount, the accused allegedly stopped responding, failed to execute the promised agreement and severed all communication.
The complainant stated that he later discovered online that the company and its representatives were involved in defrauding multiple firms of crores of rupees and were now untraceable.
The project, as described to the complainant by the alleged company, claimed to be a large-scale library book scanning and digitalisation project. The company said they were handling contracts from libraries worldwide that needed old physical books to be scanned, converted into digital files, and archived online.
They offered him “work orders” where his firm would receive batches of books or scanned pages to process. After processing, he would submit the digital data and receive payments. The money he paid ( ₹1.36 crore) was described as a refundable security deposit required before allocating the project and releasing two months’ advance payment for the work.
