Navi Mumbai businessman duped of ₹2.74 crore in online gaming fraud

The victim had been gaming for two years with the hopes of making huge wins, but instead, he spent a total of ₹3.24 crore on online games and recovered only ₹50 lakh

Navi Mumbai: A 42-year-old businessman allegedly lost ₹2.74 crore in an online gaming fraud between December 2022 and April 2025. He registered a complaint with the Cyber Police on May 20.

Navi Mumbai businessman duped of ₹2.74 crore in online gaming fraud

A resident of Kopar Khairane, Navi Mumbai, the victim runs a business that provides building supply materials. He had been gaming for two years with the hopes of making huge wins, but instead, he spent a total of ₹3.24 crore on online games and recovered only ₹50 lakh.

In his complaint, the victim said that he had been introduced to the gaming site in December 2022 by a friend. Further conversations with a representative of the platform online led him to believe that he was dealing with a legitimate listed company that offered high returns through online casino format games.

“Convinced with that assurance, the man got himself registered and took up playing games using several gaming ids. In the hopes of striking big wins he began transferring money to participate in these games,” said an officer investigating the matter. The platform initially garnered his trust by letting him withdraw ₹1.6 lakh after allegedly spending ₹1.9 lakh on games.

The officer added, “It quickly became an addiction wherein he ended up transferring large sums via QR codes sent to him from different mobile numbers. The scam went on because the gaming dashboard kept on showing that he had won ₹5.1 crore. He even sold some property in his native place to facilitate the addiction.”

Trouble began when his winnings stopped getting reflected on the gaming site, and his gaming accounts were deactivated and reactivated without explanations. He tried contacting the website representatives but his calls went unanswered.

The man realised he had been duped when he searched online for a verified customer service number or physical office address of the gaming platform but found nothing. He then registered a complaint with the Cyber Police station under section 66D (cheating by using a computer) of the Information Technology (IT) Act, and 3(5) (criminal liability), 318(4) (cheating), 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).