Chandigarh accountant looking to invest in cryptocurrency loses ₹1.33 lakh to cyber fraud

The complainant, Rajat Sharma, 24, of Sector 30-B, Chandigarh, an accountant, received a WhatsApp message on his phone offering a part-time job on April 1

Police on Tuesday booked an unidentified person for allegedly duping a city resident of ₹1.33 lakh on the pretext of investing in cryptocurrency.

The Chandigarh resident received a few tasks to earn easy money, including following a few Instagram IDs, following which he received a small amount of profit in his account. (Shutterstock)

The complainant, Rajat Sharma, 24, of Sector 30-B, an accountant, received a WhatsApp message on his phone offering a part-time job on April 1. When he clicked the link, a Telegram ID with the name “Cerin” opened.

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The victim received a few tasks to earn easy money, including following a few Instagram IDs, following which he received a small amount of profit in his account.

Later, he was introduced to crypto trading and investments. The fraudsters added him to a Telegram group and shared a cryptocurrency link with him.

“Initially, I invested ₹2,000 and earned a profit of ₹682. I again invested ₹9,000 and then ₹28,000, and received ₹46,121, including profit. Then they asked me to invest ₹98,000, but I refused to do so. They threatened to take legal action against me, following which I deposited a total of ₹1.33 lakh in their accounts,” the complainant said.

Sharma was further asked to deposit ₹1.68 lakh, but he denied, realising that he was being duped and informed the Sector 17 cyber cell police station.

A case under Sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered on his complaint.

Another resident falls prey to cyber fraud

In other case of cyber fraud, a city resident was duped of ₹23,990 after falling into a trap of a fake caller, who asked the victim to click on a link in order to get the annual charges of his credit card waived.

The complainant, Manohar Thapa, 27, of Sector 56, said he received a call on May 18 from a caller named Ankit Mishra, who asked him to click on a link sent on his WhatsApp to waive ₹750 annual charges of his RBL credit card.

“As I clicked on the ‘OK’ button, a total of ₹23,990 were deducted from my bank account,” said Thapa in his complaint.

A case against under Sections 419, 420 and 120-B of the IPC was registered.