Bengaluru: A 37-year-old man has lost a whopping 76. 2 lakh rupees in alleged cryptocurrency investments in a ‘fraudulent’ business following the advice of a woman he met in a marriage matrix
Sandeep Sharma (name changed) gained a message from Megha Raghavan, who claimed to have been running and living in London for years. He allegedly asked for Sharma’s number and texted her for more than 15 days to gain her trust.
Making sure that Sharma had grown fond of her, she forced him to make an investment in cryptocurrencies through a fraudulent website, which Sharma claimed to have sent him.
When Sharma felt anxious about the website’s authenticity, she shared a few more screenshots on WhatsApp showing ridiculously high profits on investments.
Attracted by the photos, he created a profile by visiting “www. deuncoin. com”.
Unlike other cryptocurrency investments, a person claiming to be from the “deuncoin” support team sent Sharma an account number and asked him to transfer the money.
After moving the money, Sharma checked the account and noticed that 2000 USDT (cryptocurrency) was reflected in it. He traded through the online page and noticed 230 USDT.
This convinced Sharma to invest more, especially after Megha goaded him into telling her that the market would be less complicated and highly profitable in the coming weeks. He invested Rs 21. 3 crore in a series of trades, making a profit of Rs 2. 6 crore.
But Sharma had trouble getting the cash out. You would have had to pay taxes to withdraw the cash. He asked to pay even more as the cash had not been credited. The invoices he eventually made amounted to Rs 76. 2 lakh.
Unable to receive the money, Sharma, a suspect, filed a complaint with the South CEN police station.
Sharma told DH that most of the money had been borrowed from friends and family and he was now deep in debt.
Modus operandi
1) The target receives a message from the marriage site.
2) The defendant builds trust by talking to the victim for a few days.
3) Attempts to entice target into investing in cryptocurrency
4) Send links to a questionable website
5) Shows high profits to lure the target into investing more
6) Demand payment of taxes when attempting to withdraw winnings.
7) Accused gets hefty sums and goes incommunicado