Man, posing as woman, lures student with bitcoins, arrested in Bengal

The accused had several fake social media profiles of women, said the police. He used to approach people on social media, befriend them and lure them to invest through him.

Mumbai: A 24-year-old man was arrested for allegedly cheating several people after promising them exorbitant returns if they invested in bitcoins. The accused – identified as Sahidul Ali Maulla – was nabbed from South 24 Paraganas, West Bengal.

“The accused befriended her by posing as a woman on a social media platform. After speaking to her for a while he told her that he has been earning a lot of money investing in bitcoins and she can also take benefit of it. He asked her to invest through him to make profits and told her in just two hours she can get double her money and even shared some screenshots with her to gain her confidence. He used to also imitate on phone as a woman,” said police inspector Keshav Wagh of Matunga police station. (Image for representation)

Maulla had several fake social media profiles of women, said the police. He used to approach people on social media, befriend them and lure them to invest through him.

A 22-year-old female student, who studies at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute in Matunga, had lodged a complaint.

“The accused befriended her by posing as a woman on a social media platform. After speaking to her for a while he told her that he has been earning a lot of money investing in bitcoins and she can also take benefit of it. He asked her to invest through him to make profits and told her in just two hours she can get double her money and even shared some screenshots with her to gain her confidence. He used to also imitate on phone as a woman,” said police inspector Keshav Wagh of Matunga police station.

Accordingly, the woman invested around ₹98,000 with him.

Later, the fraud tried to convince her to invest more. However, when the complainant started demanding her money, he started avoiding her.

“She approached us and we registered a case for cheating and forgery under the Information Technology Act,” said Wagh.

The police then with the help of social media login address, bank account details and mobile details reached the accused’s native place and arrested him.

“Social media login helped us to track him in a sensitive area of South 24 Paraganas. The bank details and mobile details along with UPI helped us to confirm the address. With the help of local police, we picked up the accused,” said Wagh.

The police said they are also searching for a co-accused of Maulla.

“It is a huge racket. They create social media accounts in the name of women to cheat people,” said Deepak Chavan, senior police inspector of Matunga police station.