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) received a message from Megha Raghavan, who claimed to be working and residing in London for the last five years. She allegedly asked for Sharma’s number and messaged for over 15 days to win his 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 talked about the authenticity of the website, he shared a few more screenshots on WhatsApp that showed ridiculously high returns on investments.
Attracted by the photos, he created a profile by visiting “www. deuncoin. com. “
Unlike other cryptocurrency investments, someone claiming to be part of the “deuncoin” team sent Sharma an account number and asked him to move 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 that he was now heavily in debt.
Operating Mode
1) The target receives a message from the matrimonial site.
2) The defendant builds trust by talking to the victim for a few days.
3) Attempts to trick the target into making an investment in cryptocurrency.
4) Send links to a questionable website
5) Shows high profits to lure the target into investing more
6) Ask to pay taxes when you try to withdraw winnings.
7) Accused gets hefty sums and goes incommunicado