A resident of an expensive residential area of Malabar Hill, Mumbai has been duped by many people. 1.5 crore in fraudulent cryptocurrency investments. The 36-year-old resident accused a website of luring him into investing in crypto mining schemes.
A case has been registered with Malabar Hill Police.
According to a police officer, the accused told the complainant that he could earn huge money by investing in machinery for mining cryptocurrency Reported by Hindustan Times via website ‘USD Minor’.
Also, the officer said that the accused informed the complainant about several schemes to get the benefits. The complainant liked the scheme and finally decided to invest the money.
Since October last year, the complainant has invested 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 few days of getting to know each other, the accused started messaging the complainant about crypto mining.
Further, the officer said that the complainant kept on investing more and more money in crypto mining on the instructions of the accused, as he was watching the profits accumulate in his virtual wallet.
However, the complainant could not withdraw those benefits from his wallet as the accused would discourage him from doing so. The official said this was done to make the fraud last longer.
The complainant felt that something was wrong when the accused repeatedly discouraged her from taking back the money. Hence earlier this month, the complainant demanded full refund of his investment from the accused. However, after this the accused’s phone got switched off.
Later, the complainant, after questioning, found that the website was also fake. Following this, he finally approached the police for help and lodged a complaint. On May 26, an FIR was registered against an unidentified person under relevant sections of the IPC and IT Act.