Computer dealer cheated of ₹1 cr in crypto trading fraud

MUMBAI: A computer dealer lost ₹1 crore in a crypto scam after joining a fraudulent WhatsApp group, leading to a police complaint for cheating.

MUMBAI: A 40-year-old computer dealer from Opera House was cheated to the tune of ₹1 crore in a crypto investment fraud by unknown people between March and August 2024. The complaint was filed belatedly on when?

Computer dealer cheated of ₹1 cr in crypto trading fraud

According to the complaint filed, the victim, a Thakurdwar resident, received a message from an unsolicited message on telegram, from a profile named Juliaanna. The message was a long list of various lucrative schemes under crypto trading, ending with a link to join a WhatsApp group to know more. He joined the group cha, which was flooded with messages all day from various people praising the admin for his investment tips, using which they gained huge amounts of crypto money. Police said fraudsters allegedly sent these messages using multiple mobile numbers to influence the victim.

A police officer said that the complainant fell for these fake messages and spent over ₹1,00,02,600 over four months through a mobile application sent by scammers to download. Months later, he noticed that although the installed app reflected profits, he could not withdraw them. When he could not withdraw even his principal sum, he realised, he was cheated and approached the South Cyber Police.

The Cyber Cell on when? registered a case against unknown person/s under 319 (2) (cheating by personation), 318 (4) (cheating), 336 (2) (forgery), 340 (2) (forging document or electronic record and using it as genuine) and 61 (2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 and 66 C (identity theft) and 66 D (punishment for cheating by personation by using computer resource) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.