PUNE: A Sahakarnagar auditor (68) lost Rs 24.8 lakh to fraudsters posing as Bitcoin traders between 2021 and 2022 after befriending one of them on social media and falling for good returns bait.
The victim had filed a complaint application in this regard with the cybercrime police, which was turned into an FIR after due verification on Thursday.
“The victim is an auditor residing in a bungalow in Sahakarnagar. He had received a friend request from an unknown person on social media, which he accepted. They both started conversing on social media after that. During one of the conversations, the fraudster lured him into making investment in the digital currency. The fraudster later introduced him to his accomplice allegedly doing Bitcoin trading in India,” said inspector (crime) Sandeep Deshmukh on Saturday.
In his complaint, the auditor stated that the fraudsters had shared videos on Bitcoin trading showing investors making handsome returns on their investments. “I exchanged messages with them, after which they shared some documents related to a trading firm. A fraudster claiming to be based in India shared his Aadhaar and PAN cards, along with photos, for gaining my trust,” the auditor stated in the complaint.
The complainant had initially invested Rs 25,000 in the digital currency trading. “Later, he kept on transferring money to the e-wallet and bank accounts provided by the fraudsters in lure of getting handsome returns. The fraudsters also sent him receipts via emails showing details of the money invested, but never transferred the commission in his bank account,” Deshmukh said, adding that between September 2021 and February 2022, the victim transferred Rs 24.8 lakh via online to the fraudsters’ e-wallet and multiple bank accounts.
The auditor never made any profit and also lost all the money he had invested after the fraudsters stopped making any communication with him. The victim filed complaint relating to cheating under the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act after he was unable to recover the money, he said.
According to the police, complainant wrote numerous emails to the fraudsters demanding return of the invested money in his bank account. But all his emails remained unanswered.
On the progress in investigation, inspector Deshmukh said, “We have written to the social media, e-wallet and the banks concerned to share the details of the financial transactions to understand the money trail.”
The cyber police have repeatedly appealed to investors to use trusted platforms for investing in cryptocurrencies.