For all those keen on investing in cryptocurrency, a note of caution – fraud information, fake websites and apps are afloat on the internet. A 21-year-old Kurla resident who thought he would invest in cryptocurrency to earn quick money, stumbled into two fraudulent cryptocurrency trading platforms on one of his internet rambles and ended up losing Rs 4 lakh.
According to the Nehru Nagar police, on July 19, the victim came across information about two cryptocurrency trading platforms. He did some due diligence, like checking the ratings of the said companies and found these to be impressive. He then subscribed to the said trading platforms by sharing his mobile number and email ID.
After some time, the victim received a WhatsApp call from a female ‘executive’ on one of the trading platforms. She informed the victim that he could get five to ten per cent returns on his investment. Later on, he received a phone call from another woman from the other trading platform. She also gave him similar information as the first caller, police said.
Between July 19 and July 21, the fraudsters induced the victim to transfer Rs 4 lakh to various bank accounts on different pretexts, such as registration charges, security deposit, account verification charges, privacy conditional charges, crypto account stamp authorisation charges and contract agreement of account charges.
Later, when the victim confronted both the representatives for withdrawal of his money, the fraudsters blocked his number. At this point, the victim realised that he had been duped and lodged a complaint with the police on Saturday. The victim has provided details of the WhatsApp numbers used by the representatives of the two platforms to contact him and of the beneficiary bank account where he was asked to deposit his money. Police are also probing whether both the trading platforms are being operated by the same set of fraudsters.
The police have registered a case on charges of cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property. Alongwith identity theft and cheating by personation, using computer resources.