Retd prof loses ₹1.93 cr in crypto fraud

The west zone cyber police station has registered a first information report (FIR) based on the retired professor’s complaint

MUMBAI: A 65-year-old retired professor has been duped of ₹1.93 crore by a woman he met via social media who claimed she was helping him invest in cryptocurrency. The woman approached the professor in July last year and convinced him to invest in cryptocurrency, following which her associates asked him to transfer money to different bank accounts, said police. The west zone cyber police station has registered a first information report (FIR) based on the retired professor’s complaint.

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According to the police, the complainant retired from a reputed college in Bandra in 2016. In August 2023, he received a friend request on Facebook from a woman identified as Ayesha, a Gurugram resident who worked for a global art company. She told the professor that investing in cryptocurrency was very lucrative and provided information about the prices of various bitcoins. She also shared screenshots purportedly showing people earning huge returns on their investments.

The woman helped the professor open an investment account using his email address and Aadhaar and asked him to transfer money to several bank accounts towards investment in cryptocurrency, which he complied with.

A few months later, when the woman stopped contacting the professor, a certain Prashant Patil called him and convinced him to invest ₹42,735 in cryptocurrency, saying he would get a profit of ₹7.23 lakh on the meagre investment. But the man too stopped answering calls after the professor sent him the money.

Realising that he had been duped, the retired professor approached the West cyber police station. The police registered an FIR against unidentified frauds after verifying the facts and collecting evidence of bank transactions.