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A resident from the upscale residential area, Malabar Hill in Mumbai, has been duped by more than ₹1.5 crore in fraudulent cryptocurrency investment. The 36-year-old resident accused a website of trapping him into investing in crypto mining schemes.
The case has been registered at the Malabar Hill police.
According to a police officer, the accused informed the complainant that he can make huge money by investing in machinery for mining cryptocurrency through the website ‘USD Miner, reported by the Hindustan Times.
Also, the officer stated that the accused informed the complainant about multiple schemes for availing profit. The complainant liked the scheme and eventually decided to invest money.
Since October last year, the complainant invested to the tune of 2.83 lakh Australian dollars (equivalent to ₹1.53 crore).
The resident of Nepean Sea Road, Malabar Hill befriended the accused over the internet in October 2021. After a couple of days of knowing each other, the accused began messaging the complainant about crypto mining.
Further, the officer added that the complainant kept on investing more and more money in crypto mining, on the instructions of the accused, as he was witnessing profit being credited to his virtual wallet.
However, the complainant could not withdraw those profits from his wallet as the accused would discourage him from doing so. The officer added that this was done in order to ensure the fraud lasted longer.
The complainant sensed something was wrong after the accused repeatedly discouraged him from withdrawing his money. So earlier this month, the complainant demanded the accused to give him a full refund of his investment. However, thereafter, the accused's phone has been switched off.
Later, the complainant found that the website was a fake one too after inquiring. Following this, he finally approached the police for help and filed a complaint. The FIR was registered on May 26 against an unidentified person under relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act.
