Thane Fraud News: Elderly Man from Ghodbunder road lost around 86.9 lakh in investment fraud scam. Fraudster lured him to invest in cryptocurrency with promises of high returns. Victim filed a complaint and alleged that the fraud began in June. He received a facebook friend request from a woman calling her Leela Gupta. He accepted request and accused shifted conversation from messenger to WhatsApp and she began to discuss about cryptocurrency.
TO reported that she convinced the victim that he could earn high profits by investing in USDT (Tether) and sent him a link to an online trading platform, guiding him through creating a login ID and password. Between June 20 and August 21, the victim transferred amounts ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 13 lakh in multiple installments to bank accounts provided by Gupta and her associates.
He stated that platform initially showed a balance of 2.76 lakh USDT, including profits. Later when he tried to withdrawal request of 75,000 USDT was rejected, and he was asked to deposit 30% of his balance as a "risk assessment security fee." Unable to pay, he was offered assistance; he paid Rs 10 lakh, while a woman claimed to have paid Rs 30 lakh on his behalf. He was later asked to deposit an additional Rs 8 lakh. When he refused, Gupta promised to pay Rs 40 lakh herself, but she never did. Realizing he had been cheated, the man contacted the national cyber helpline at 1930 and filed a complaint.
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An investigation is ongoing to find the accused and recover the money. Police are advising people to be wary of unsolicited investment offers on social media.