A senior citizen living in Shela was duped of Rs 1.35 core by cybercrooks who lured him into investing in non-existent cryptocurrency.
The Cybercrime division has registered a complaint of cheating and breach of trust against Sharma Finance Academy, individuals identified as Janet and David Kala, and administrators of various WhatsApp groups.
Complainant Nand Bogot told police that the cybercrooks approached him in Jan.
The 68-year-old said, “Sharma Finance Academy contacted me via WhatsApp messages from numbers registered to its director, Rahul Sharma, and his assistant, Janet. They gave investment tips in cryptocurrencies, promising good profits. They also created a fake website and instructed me to create an ID to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions.”
Bogot was persuaded to deposit Rs 1.35 crore in various bank accounts to purchase cryptocurrencies. The group then showed him inflated valuations in US Dollar Tether on a fake website and encouraged him to trade further. They claimed that Bogot’s investments had grown to Rs 41 crore.
However, when Bogot attempted to withdraw his money, the group refused to return his investment. Realizing he had been duped, Bogot approached police on Tuesday.