50-year-old woman from Navi Mumbai loses ₹14.3 lakh to crypto fraud

The complainant, the wife of an advocate, was approached by a ‘media agency’ – Media to Win Social Media Agency Mumbai – on March 23.

Navi Mumbai: A 50-year-old woman from Seawoods, Navi Mumbai, fell prey to an online fraud of ₹14.30 lakh where she was promised returns upon investing in cryptocurrencies.

The woman had believed in the scheme as she had received ₹1,000. Later, the woman was asked to pay for cryptocurrency tasks and charged different amounts for each task, said a senior inspector from NRI Coastal Police Station. “She was told that since it is a cryptocurrency task, she will first have to invest money and then they would return it with a 30% increase after the task is done,” added the inspector. (Image for representation)

The complainant, the wife of an advocate, was approached by a ‘media agency’ – Media to Win Social Media Agency Mumbai – on March 23. A woman named Miya texted her on WhatsApp and offered her an online freelance job. She was sent two youtube links and told that if she subscribes, she would earn ₹150 and upon completion, she was paid the said amount. Later, she was told to subscribe to 25 other links for which she was paid ₹850 immediately.

The woman had believed in the scheme as she had received ₹1,000. Later, the woman was asked to pay for cryptocurrency tasks and charged different amounts for each task, said a senior inspector from NRI Coastal Police Station. “She was told that since it is a cryptocurrency task, she will first have to invest money and then they would return it with a 30% increase after the task is done,” added the inspector.

In 10 days, the victim was lured to ‘purchase’ cryptocurrency tasks of ₹14.30 lakh in instalments. After the last task, she asked for her money, to which the person in contact from the ‘agency’ said that she has not completed the task and needed to invest more ₹8.24 lakh in the last task and the entire money would be refunded together. She grew suspicious and revealed everything to her husband and upon realising that they were cheated, the duo approached the police and filed a complaint.

A cheating case was registered against an unidentified accused under the sections of the IPC and It Act and further investigations are on.