Senior executive duped of ₹42 lakh in Gurugram, cops file case

Gurugram: A senior executive of a multinational financial firm was allegedly duped of ₹42

Gurugram: A senior executive of a multinational financial firm was allegedly duped of ₹42.3 lakh after he fell into a trap of earning quick money by investing in cryptocurrency and liking YouTube videos, Gurugram police said on Sunday.

Senior executive duped of ₹42 lakh in Gurugram, cops file case

Investigators said the victim had even taken a bank loan of ₹20 lakh to make the investment after exhausting his own and wife’s savings.

Police said the victim, identified as Manoj Kumar (32), a resident of Sector 102, started making payments in the account numbers and UPI addresses provided by the fraudsters on the morning of March 25 as investments in cryptocurrency for earning cashbacks and profits after completing tasks of reviewing and liking YouTube videos.

Investigators said that by the next day, he had invested the huge sum and grew suspicious when he tried to withdraw the profits along with the total investments that amounted to ₹69 lakh as shown by the fraudsters.

Investigators added that the fraudsters started coming up with different clauses such as additional payment meant for tax and other deductions. The victim understood that he had fallen into a trap when the suspects, who were communicating with him on Telegram, went offline and the chat groups vanished.

“As per their directions, Kumar started making transactions from the morning of March 25. Before he started making the hefty transactions, the fraudsters lured him by making a payment of ₹11,270 via UPI in seven different transactions as money earned from cashbacks and profits. This made the victim believe that it was a genuine platform,” the officer added.

On the basis of Kumar’s complaint submitted on April 9, an FIR was registered against the unidentified suspects under Section 419 (cheating by personation) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Cyber Crime (west) police station on Friday, police said.

Investigators said the complainant was disturbed and tried his best to get back the money on his own but failed and later approached the police. The FIR was registered after a thorough inquiry in which his allegations were found to be true.

Subhash Boken, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said they are investigating the case and are trying to get the details of the bank accounts in which the money was transferred to trace the suspects.