53-year-old woman loses house, father’s life savings to cyber fraud

A 53-year-old woman lost ₹1.03 crore to a crypto scam in Navi Mumbai; police arrested the fraudster who lured her via Facebook ads.

Navi Mumbai: A 53-year-old woman from Kharghar lost her house and her retired father’s savings to a cyber fraud where she was lured into investing in cryptocurrency with the promises of high profits.She lost around ₹1.03 crore, and the police have arrested a Mumbra resident in connection with the case.

A 53-year-old woman from Kharghar lost her house and her retired father’s savings to a cyber fraud

According to the police, the accused, Zuber Shamshad Khan, 34, came into contact with the victim, Dipali Patil, through a facebook advertisement in 2020 where he told her that she could earn a lot from cryptocurrency. Khan told her to download two mobile applications and guided her to invest in crypto tokens through those fraudulent apps, said the police.

Patil, looking to make high profits, sold her house and even invested her father’s savings and retirement benefits starting from October 3, 2020, to March 25, 2025. When she realised she had been duped, she asked for the money back but Khan returned only ₹3.51 lakh, and for returning the remaining amount, she was asked to pay up an additional ₹26.70 lakh, said the police.

Based on Patil’s complaint, the police registered an FIR and booked the accused under sections 66(C) (punishment for identity theft) and 66(D) (punishment for cheating by impersonation) of the Information Technology Act, along with sections 319(2) (cheating by personation), 318(4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property) , 336(3) (liability under the BNS), and 3(5) (application of the BNS to offences committed abroad) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

In a similar case, a retired engineer from Nerul lost ₹2.2 crore to an online trading fraud where fraudsters posing as representatives of a reputed financial firm lured him into investing in the share market through the firms. A woman claiming to be a financial mentor even produced a SEBI registration certificate to assure him of the firm’s credibility, said the police.

He invested a large amount of money through a fraudulent app, based on tips received on WhatsApp groups. He realised he had been duped when he tried to withdraw his ₹15.6 crore profit but was asked for a platform fee of ₹2.2 crore, the police said.

Based on the victim’s complaint, Navi Mumbai cyber police registered a complaint on June 4 under various sections of the Information Technology Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and are trying to trace the fraudsters involved.